


There Will Always Be Brooklyn

by aeval, thelastpen



Category: Glee
Genre: Children, F/F, F/M, Parenthood, Poverty, Single Parents, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-22
Updated: 2013-06-22
Packaged: 2017-12-15 20:10:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 198,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/853572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeval/pseuds/aeval, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelastpen/pseuds/thelastpen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six years ago, Santana Lopez disappeared following graduation. The costs for therapy and rehab to get out of her chair, made Quinn Fabray realize she couldn't have Yale, so she went with her second acceptance - NYU. Rachel Berry missed out on NYADA but made it into Tisch, only to find herself as roommates with Quinn after tearing herself away from Finn to go to New York. Eventually a gin soaked night led to a tormented relationship that eventually was surrendered to save their fading friendship. When Rachel finally managed to land a Broadway lead under Quinn's management, they were shocked by who showed up for the latest opening as Rachel's assistant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a warm day for the early fall. Santana lay on the blanket soaking up the sun rays. It had been the longest four years of her life, but it had also been the best. She sometimes felt as if she hadn't slept at all the last few years - something she shared with the rest of her former friends and classmates at WMHS. She left Lima the minute she was awarded her diploma, packing up her small car and heading leaving.

"Mommy?" A small voice chirped pulling Santana off of her thoughts. A little girl in worn overalls and a black turtleneck ran over and plopped on her stomach.

"Yes, Beautiful?" Santana smiled as she looked at her four year old daughter. "Did you have fun playing with Pedro?"

"Pedro is mean." She scowled. Santana sat up on her elbows and looked at her daughter. "He say I'm stupid."

"Said, baby. He said... but he's stupid," Santana said as she looked over at the boy still playing on the swings. "Don't listen to him."

"Okay, Mommy," she whispered before moving to lie on her mother.

Santana smiled and cuddled her daughter as she looked over the information sheet the temp agency had sent over for the new position she was to interview for. She needed to find a new job badly. She had been working as a temp for the last year and that had become more of a hassle than ever. The inconsistent hours made having a secure income very difficult. She knew she needed to do better for her little girl and she needed to find a job with better hours and more stability. She had gotten a call earlier in the day that was going to be put on a new job on Monday, so Santana just hoped that she could make this one stick for longer than a few weeks. She wrapped her arms around her daughter and closing her eyes as they lounged in Central Park under the midday sun.

* * *

Quinn Fabray was not having a good day.

First, Rachel had managed to horrify or intimidate - she wasn't entirely sure which - yet _another_ personal assistant into quitting. Second, her coffee machine had decided that _this_ morning was the day to die - and do so in a way that got coffee all down her outfit prompting a change that had led her to being too late to stop and get coffee on the way in. Third, she had to sort through a stack of potential new PAs for Rachel and not even a third of them were remotely acceptable.

Honestly, she loved Rachel as a sister these days, but her diva tirades whenever things weren't going perfectly was something she could really do without. Finally being able to afford to get her own apartment last year had been a blessing. She'd been starting to wonder how much longer she could deal with Broadway showtunes and the annoying whine of the girl's elliptical machine at six in the morning _every_ morning.

Now though, she had to deal with Rachel's headstrong perfectionist attitudes without being able to bark her back into line that night. And all of the resultant "I quit!" phone calls from harried assistants. Being able to sleep in was so worth it though. She turned to the next folder, flipping over the cover and almost having to physically stop herself from double-taking at the name emblazoned on the top.

Santana Lopez.

She chuckled to herself, shaking her head as the moment of startled recognition passed. There was no way it was the same girl she used to be best friends with. That Santana hadn't even waited to say goodbye before tearing out of Lima like something was chasing her. The world just wasn't small enough for her to have a resume land on Quinn's desk.

She scanned through the resume, noting qualifications that made her smile. By the time she turned the last page, she was nodding happily. This one was definitely a potential. She dropped it onto the stack of three other resumes that had passed her criteria and would be getting a call to schedule an interview once she'd finished looking through the fifty or so resumes the company had sent her.

* * *

When Monday rolled around, Santana begrudgingly got up with her daughter and got them both ready. She picked up her still sleepy little girl up as they left the tiny run down basement apartment and headed towards the subway. She sat down and ran her hand through her daughter's messy black hair and pulled it into a ponytail. She stopped by a street vendor and got a bagel and a coffee. She cut it in half and gave her daughter the larger half to munch on while they waited on the bench outside the building. Santana was early for her interview, but she needed to meet the babysitter before she headed inside.

"Mommy?" the girl asked as she munched her bagel. "Play with me today?"

"Not today, Brooke," Santana said sadly. "Mommy needs to go to work so you're going to go with Mrs. Gonzalez today." Brooklyn pouted and looked down. "I'll try to be home earlier today. Okay? I can pick us up some food and we can have a picnic dinner."

"Really?" she asked, brightening. "Yes, please." Santana smiled and kissed her baby's head when she saw the older woman coming over.

"Hey Rita." Santana smiled as she stood up and hugged the older woman. "Thank you for watching her today." Brooklyn finished her breakfast and stood up and looked at the women.

"No problem." Rita smiled and gazed down at the girl, "Ready to play, _mariposa_?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Brooklyn said softly as she hugged Santana's leg. The young mother crouched down and hugged her daughter tightly. "Love you, mommy."

"Love you more than anything, baby," Santana said as she watched her daughter toddle away with her babysitter. Santana drank the rest of her coffee and headed into the building. She ducked into the bathroom and straightened out her dress pants and gray button up. She left her hair long with a slight wave flowing over her shoulders. She sighed and headed up to the 8th floor and headed into the door numbered three twenty-five.

The receptionist looked up with a smile. "Welcome to the Smithson Talent Agency. Can I help you?"

"Hi... I have a nine o'clock interview?" she said as she walked over to the counter. "My name's Santana Lopez."

"Lopez, Lopez..." The woman nodded and looked down her computer screen. "Ah! Here we are. Alright, Ms Lopez, if you'll just sign on here," she handed her the clipboard with the visitor log, "and have a seat, I'll call Ms. Fabray to come get you."

Santana's eyebrows furrowed. "Fabray?" she asked as she wrote her name on the paper. She moved away and sat down crossing her legs as her mind raced. She hadn't heard that name in four years. She can't say that she hadn't thought about her former best friend over the years, but she knew that she lost all hope of being friends with the blonde the minute she saw the positive sign on her pregnancy test.

"Ms. Fabray, your nine o'clock is here," the receptionist spoke into the intercom on her desk before smiling at Santana. "Yes, Quinn Fabray. She's been doing quite a lot of interviews lately. I hope you make it."

"Son of a bitch," Santana muttered and started to get up and grab her bag when she heard the click of high heels against wood.

"S-Santana?" Quinn's voice was a blast from the past. A little deeper maybe, but still the same soft soprano. "Is that really you? God, I saw your name on the resume but I never thought... it's you, isn't it. From Lima."

"Uh." The other woman looked up, "Hey, um, I didn't know that... I didn't know that you'd be here."

"Well, I didn't know you'd be here so we're even." She stepped back against the door she'd held open, gesturing into the office, "Why don't you come in and we can talk about the position you applied for?"

Santana thought about bailing for a few moments, then the face of her daughter popped into her head and she had to suck up her pride. "Yeah. Okay," Santana said as she pulled her purse over her shoulder and followed Quinn into the office.

"So," Quinn started, sitting down and gesturing at the visitor chair. "You're looking to be a personal assistant. Do you know who you'll be working with? Any idea at all."

"As long as they're not racist or sexist I don't really have a care in the world." She sat down and tried to pull her adult and professional exterior on. "I just really need a new job."

Quinn folded her hands on the desk and looked at her once best friend for a long moment. "And if I tell you it's Rachel Berry?" Her tone was cool and she watched Santana carefully for a reaction that would make the decision she'd half made already a bad one.

Santana took several deep breaths. This couldn't be happening. She closed her eyes and thought of her daughter, about the fact Christmas would be coming in a few months and the fact she had to pay rent. She opened her eyes and clutched her hands together. "Doesn't matter as long as you'd understand that I can't travel overnight if I were to get the position."

Quinn nodded slowly. "Why not? Personal assistants are pretty much required to. Be up front with me, Santana, and I'll see you start today if you want. Frankly, right now, you're the only one who knows Berry's attitude enough to put up with her and not get scared off. So you tell me right now why you need limits put in place and if the reason's good, I'll make sure she understands and doesn't push."

"I have commitments I have to put first," she said honestly. "I can do anything else... but I need notification if she needs me to work past seven a night or before six in the morning." Santana rubbed her wrist as she spoke. "I can start today."

"Santana, I get commitments. Look around, I'm buried in commitments every day. What I need is a reason," she frowned, shuffling papers. "Rachel is going to throw an absolute fit if I don't have something to get her the hell off my back and I do not want to deal with it. You can start in an hour if you can give me a good reason. Now can you or can't you? Nebulous _commitments_ don't count."

"God, Fabray!" Santana groaned. "I wanna be able to see my goddamn child, alright?" she said blinking furiously. "She won't go to bed if I'm not home, alright?" She spat. "Now fuck Rachel if she doesn't think I can get her coffee and find her dry cleaning before I go home."

Quinn's brows rose noticeably in surprise. "A child? You have a daughter? Oh... my. Well, yes, I suppose that is a good reason." She picked up her pen and jotted something down before tapping it against her lips, "If Rachel does need to go out of town, would you be able to go with her if we made arrangements for your child and a caretaker to come along? This is totally out of the ordinary, Santana. I'm only offering because we were friends once."

"Yes, I can go if she can come with me." Santana said, "But I don't need a caretaker." She looked down at the small black and gray tattoo of a butterfly on her wrist that had the initials **B.R.L.** "But, I can go if she can come."

"You might want that caretaker spot later, so I'll leave it in the contract as a rider," Quinn sounded mildly distracted as she made another notation on the paperwork at her desk. "Okay. So... down to the important things since you know Rachel already. Salary and benefits. What are you expecting? Or maybe I should ask what you're hoping for."

"I would be hoping for a decent salary... but I would really like health care that covers my dependent." She swallowed, not wanting to talk about her daughter to Quinn of all people.

Quinn sighed, running a hand over her hair as she tried to figure out what she could do to offer Santana benefits. "First, you've got to handle Rachel. The last six quit within days. If I know her, she'll try to cover your out of pockets for your kid if I let her. She's kind of obsessive about kids being with their parents after her dads were mostly absent when she was growing up. Hell, if you ask, she'll probably let you bring yours to work if you need to and she's quiet."

"My daughter will not be coming to work," Santana said. "As much as it's a mind trip to be here and working for _you_ and _Berry_... I will not be bringing her to work." Santana rolled her neck. "As for the other people, I don't have that problem. I didn't quit for three years of Glee, and I wasn't even getting paid."

"Good and whatever," Quinn sighed, looking over the documents again. "I can't offer benefits straight off. That's impossible. But I'll work on it and hopefully if you can last at least a month, I can get HR to sign off on it. Up to that point... how does sixty strike you?"

"Sounds perfect." Santana said, "So, what is she doing? What should I expect?"

"She is working Broadway and is being a total diva pain in the ass," Quinn sighed. "You are quite possibly the first thing going right that's come into my office today. At least I know you won't put up with her crap. This is her first lead and frankly she needs a wrangler more than a PA, but I only have the authority to get her a PA. And she eats them alive with her demands. Sure you're up to it?"

"Yep," Santana said softly. "I can handle this. I haven't really had the best couple years so handling Berry will be a walk in the park."

"Well, just because you're her assistant doesn't mean she gets to treat you like her slave. You've got carte blanche to handle her as you see fit. Got it?" Quinn leaned back in her chair and regarded her former friend. "It's really amazing to see you again, Santana. Even if you did blow out of Lima without so much as a goodbye."

"It's good to see you too," she said. "I know I just bounced but I really didn't have anything to stay for and I didn't want to deal with my situation. Not after everything." She swallowed. "I fucked up and I just needed to go."

"Apparently," she shrugged, tossing her pen on the desk. "Stay in touch this time, okay?" She reached across the desk to shake Santana's hand. "Welcome to the _Dealing With Rachel Berry_ family, Santana."

The dark haired girl laughed and stood up. She shook her former friend's hand. "Thanks." She smiled softly, "So... I'm starting today. You gonna tell me where to go?"

"I'm on my way there actually," Quinn shrugged, standing up and grabbing her purse. "Papers for the diva to sign." She held up a folder. "Want a ride?"

"Yeah, sure," Santana said as she stood up and pulled her phone out of her pocket. As they walked down, Santana dialed her daughter's sitter. "Rita? Hey. Yeah. I got that job. Can you keep Brooke until six tonight? Okay... Lemme talk to _mi mariposa_?" She smiled when the little voice came onto the phone. "Hey, babe. You being good? Okay, mommy has to work still so I'll pick you up later but we can still have our picnic dinner okay?" She smiled as they headed outside, "Alright, beautiful. Go play... _Te amo_." She whispered and hung up as she followed Quinn.

"Sounds like you really love your kid," Quinn remarked, punching the elevator button for the building's garage once Santana joined her inside. "Who's the lucky man or well, woman I guess. One of those IVF things?"

"Quinn... I'm twenty-two years old..." She shook her head. "Do you really think that I had IVF?" She cocked her head to the side and looked at the blonde. "It's just Brooklyn and me."

"Oh, well, I supposed it was possible," she shrugged, leaning back against the wall. "Just a grand prize from a one-night stand then, huh? Kinda like Beth only you didn't have to give her up."

"I guess." Santana shrugged, "I was nearly three years older than you though..."

"Three years is a big difference." She shrugged as the doors opened and she lead the way out to the compact little Isuzu parked in a corner of the garage. "Emotionally and mentally you were more ready than I was. Wish I'd been that ready when I had Beth." Unlocking the doors, she got in, motioning Santana to the other side. "Buckle up."

Santana buckled up and looked out the window. "It's different." Santana sighed, "I wasn't ready. I'm still not but I have a four year old and she's my world." She ran her hand over her tattoo and looked straight forward. "Look... I can't... I'm sorry, I let you down when you were pregnant."

"Yeah, well, not like you were the only one," Quinn shrugged, starting the car and carefully backing out. "I was way too young. Trust me, I never made that mistake again. Anyway, Berry's still Berry but well, I don't know, maybe it's just me, but she seems a little more tolerable now. Of course, I lived with her for three years of college and we only stopped being roommates last year."

"Ew. You lived with Berry?" She made a face, "God your little car accident really did fuck your head up." She joked, "Are you happy you didn't end up at Yale now?"

"Berry didn't exactly make it into NYADA either." She shrugged, "NYU wasn't so bad, though I was shocked when I got the offer of a full ride academic scholarship. There was no way I'd be able to afford Yale after my accident and the medical bills from being in the hospital so long. Heck, I was lucky to graduate after being out so long."

"Well with Berry and me bringing your ass work everyday you seemed to be okay." She smiled as she looked at the blonde. "I'm glad you enjoyed college even though you had to live with Rachel."

"Rachel's not so bad," she glanced over at Santana for just a moment. "She's just obsessive about Broadway and very, very true to herself. She's also incredibly loyal if you let her be. God, I was so stupid in high school. She was offering support and friendship at every turn, but I just was so caught up in myself I couldn't accept it. You too. I'm sorry I was a shitty friend, Santana."

"Please, I was a bitch to you for four years. I was chasing relationships that would never work out for no reason. I ruined everything by following around someone who would never love me and ignored you warning me about her."

She shrugged again. "You were in love and it really wasn't my place to tell you who to be in a relationship. Not like any of mine have ever gone well."

"The only one of mine that has ever lasted is with Brooke." Santana shrugged, "Yeah, I talk about my kid all the time because she's the only thing I have..."

"Santana, your daughter doesn't count as a relationship unless something really sick has happened with you since I knew you last." Quinn cocked a brow at her. "But it's okay. I talk about Beth a lot since I got to meet her senior year and I don't even have her. I just try to live my life, probably the same as you."

"You nasty, Q." Santana groaned. "That's my kid!" She shook her head and looked away, "But, I haven't had a relationship since Brittany so yeah... I can say that mine haven't worked out." She turned back to Quinn and sighed. "I know now that pushing a infant out of your cunt hurts like hell and wrecks your ability to think about anything but that little girl."

"Jesus, San!" Quinn frowned and shook her head, "I know pushing out a baby hurts like hell and totally fucks up your life, but that's no reason to give up, you know?"

"That's the difference between you and me... She didn't fuck up my life. She makes it worth living and she is my life," Santana retorted. "She is my everything."

"Okay, geez, don't get your panties in a twist. Obviously, you didn't get as screwed over as I did." Quinn sighed and focused on her driving.

"Whatever," Santana said as she looked out the window.

* * *

When they got to the theater, Rachel was on stage for a dress rehearsal as the cast worked out some new piece of blocking that the director had decided on. She was pacing and gesturing to the other actors, but without the microphones or the cast really projecting like they would during a show, what was being said was lost. She couldn't see Quinn and Santana slipping into the theater via one of the audience doors against the darkness they were moving through so she just continued with the rehearsal.

Santana looked around, slightly awestruck by the theatre. She had been in New York for almost five years and she had never been in one of the theatres. She watched as the girl she used to know stood on the stage like she belonged, as it was an extension of her body. "She looks taller," Santana whispered as she looked over to Quinn.

Quinn smirked, "It's the costume. I think they put lifts in the shoes this time. She's still tiny. But she belongs up there," there was a fondness in her smile as she looked up at the young woman moving about the stage, "don't you think?"

"Yeah," Santana said softly, not sure if she's proud of her former teammate or jealous that her dreams came true.

"You know, you're still pretty attractive for a mom. Do you still sing?" Quinn asked, hearing a note of jealousy in Santana's voice, "I could try and get you an audition somewhere if you stick around."

"So are you." Santana raised her eyebrow. "I sing my kid to sleep. Doing anything else would cause me to be away too long."

"Well, if you ever want to give it a shot." She smirked. "I _am_ a talent agent these days. Not exactly what I planned, but you can't have everything." She looked up at the sound of the director calling a wrap. "Come on, let's go see the diva."

Santana nodded and followed Quinn closer to the stage. She looked up as she saw Rachel coming close to them. She was suddenly nervous to face someone else from her past.

"Hi," Rachel smiled coming over, squinting against the bright klieg lights, "are you the new assistant Quinn found for me? I hope you're better than the last incompetent buffoon I had foisted off on me. I swear, that bimbo couldn't find her ass with both hands, let alone know the difference between a _vegan_ non-fat frappachino and a _non_ -vegan one. Ugh, seriously the people the agency sends and oh my _God_! _Santana_!? Santana _Lopez_? Is that you?!"

"Yep." Santana said, shoving her hands into her pocket. "I got hired because unlike your other personal slaves, I won't take your shit." She looked up to her new boss and raised her eyebrow.

"And let's be clear up front, Rach," Quinn stepped in getting her attention, "you can not fire any more assistants. If you manage to chase Santana off, I'm not hiring you another one. You can get your own damn fancy coffee crap."

"Quinn," Rachel rolled her eyes, "let's be rational about this. If she doesn't work out -"

"No," Quinn cut her off. "Santana is your last chance. Got it?"

Santana just wore an amused smirk and took a mental note of Rachel's coffee. "So yeah, let's get this shit started. I think you said you liked vegan non-fat frappes? I can go get one for you, let you and Quinn squawk about the fact she hired me after be bolting four years ago."

"Yeah, sure," Rachel waved her off, intent on Quinn. "Quinn, stop being so childish. Assistants are a dime a dozen in this city."

"Yes, and I've gone through _most_ of them trying to find someone to handle your tyrannical ass," Quinn glowered at her. "I'm not doing it any more."

"I'm sure out of all of those you should have been capable of finding one who was competent." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I have. Santana. That's it. No more."

At some point, Santana slipped off to go get Rachel's coffee. She just shook her head mumbling something about this being a bad idea.

"Santana will be the worst of them all, Quinn!" Rachel huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "She's petty and mean and not reliable."

"And you're not?" Quinn laughed, shaking her head, her hands firmly planted on her hips. " _Santana_ isn't the one who made the last two girls run off _crying_ , Rachel. _She_ didn't drop the off-Broadway show just because this one started up. _She's_ not the one blowing a gasket over a damn _coffee_. The only petty, mean and unreliable person around here right now is _you_ , so get off your high horse and start acting like the talented star I know you are and not the petty diva you like to be!"

"She just ran away for no good reason!" Rachel scowled, "She left Brittany a crying mess and just left after everything we all went through the last few months of school! I'm still mad that she hurt everyone. And, damn it, Quinn, my coffee is important! It's how I can judge whether or not I can give them more important things to do!"

"Jesus, Rachel, would you just shut _up_ about that! Brittany had been breaking her heart for _years_ and you didn't care about it _then_ ," she shook her head. "You know what? You're just a selfish little brat, the same as always. Santana left to take care of her _kid_. She had _responsibilities_ more important than playing around waiting to get hurt again and if you can't understand that, I'm really wondering where the Rachel I thought I knew went."

"She has a child?" Rachel's voice softened. "It doesn't matter because you've found your friend again, you don't need me anymore," Rachel complained as she turned away from Quinn. Before the blonde could reply to Rachel, Santana walked back down the aisle with two drinks in her hand. "Vegan non-fat frap for you and soy chai latte for Quinn... I wasn't sure if you still liked the same thing." She shrugged. "Plus, I determined that living with her made you at least somewhat vegan so I took a shot."

Rachel blinked and accepted the cup with a vague sort of uncertainty. Taking a sip, she stared fixedly at Santana over the rim of the cup. "You," she pulled it away and stared at it in shock. "This is perfect..."

Quinn smirked, "Thanks, San. See, Rachel? Competent. And she won't put up with your crap any more than I will."

"It's coffee... not rocket science." Santana said softly, "I really need you to get over whatever issues you have with me. This is the best job I can get and I'd like to keep it."

"I... I," Rachel stuttered, looking between the coffee she hadn't even had to ask for and Santana and back repeatedly.

"What Ms Eloquent is trying to say," Quinn smirked at her, "is she's glad you're here and she's thrilled," she gave Rachel a pointed look, "to have you as her assistant."

Rachel shook her head as if knocking herself out of a daze. "Um, yes... yes. That's right." She smiled tentatively and held out a hand, "Truce? Let bygones be bygones?"

"Sure." Santana said shaking her new boss's hand. "So, yeah... stop gaping at me and tell me what I needs to get to work on?"

"Um," Rachel rubbed at her neck, a habit she'd picked up from Quinn, "to be honest, I wasn't exactly expecting Quinn to find me an assistant until tomorrow. I think I'm mostly done for today," she glanced at the director who nodded and waved her off, "so if you'd like to get lunch, we can discuss your responsibilities and hours? My treat."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Santana replied, not really wanting to go but knowing she couldn't blow Rachel off on the first day, hell in the first few hours.

"I hope you don't mind anything fancier than a meal in the park," Rachel headed off after scribbling her signature on the papers Quinn thrust at her, assuming Santana would follow her. "I usually just grab a falafel pita from the cart outside. One of the only vegan options and I was shocked that he actually did make it _vegan_. A pleasant surprise. I'll tell Quinn you were with me all day if you want, she knows I usually send my assistant off early anyway. It's creepy being followed around by someone all the time."

"I bet." Santana mumbled, "I'm good with whatever... Fancy for me these days is Subway so you know my standards are not really that high."

"What's wrong with Subway?" she glanced back at Santana confused. "I eat there when I can. It's just the cart is closer. Get whatever you want," she added, ordering her sandwich. "The least I can do is buy my assistant lunch and before you start, it's a habit I started when Quinn insisted I try being nicer after the first one broke down. They simply don't make assistants with good staying power anymore."

"Or that can put up with child sized divas," she remarked, before asking for chicken and rice knowing she could take most of it home for her and Brooklyn. Once they had food in hand Santana followed Rachel to the park and sat down next to her on the bench.

"You always have a way with words," Rachel rolled her eyes, huffing slightly as she sat down. "I suppose I should be grateful you're not calling me Hobbit or Yentl anymore. Now, hours. I know my life can be fairly insane, but at least I'm not a doctor. I'm more likely to be out to all hours than have random emergencies and I generally know what nights I will be out. What I want to know from you is when you would most prefer to _not_ be called to assist me. I am perfectly capable of going without an assistant if need be after all and I'm certain Quinn has set you up as a salaried employee due to the irregular hours you might find yourself working as my assistant."

"I'd prefer few nights. If you need me I can arrange it, but I will not be able to assist you at night until after eight PM," She said sternly. "It's not negotiable. I need to be home from six to eight at night and after those times if you need me I can make arrangements."

"Good. Most of the nights I might need you to work nights, things wouldn't start until closer to ten and I loathe staying out past midnight unless it's a major event. Oh! Should I be nominated for an award, would you be willing to serve as my accompaniment for the ceremony should I be unable to arrange for a date in time?"

"Those things have pretty set dates so yes, but I doubt you'd need me when I'm sure you have a dude hanging around or a gay best friend... or even Quinn to take." She laughed before taking a small bite of food. "But, sure."

"I took Quinn when we were dating in college after I was nominated for a small part," Rachel mumbled offhandedly as she took a bite. Chewing and swallowing, she continued, "It was such an unmitigated disaster than she promptly initiated a standing refusal to accompany me to such an event. The sex was fairly outstanding after, though I think it was from sheer frustration."

Santana choked on her rice as she let the words settle in, once she found her breath she gaped at Rachel. "What the _fuck_?" she cursed, "Ew... mental image!" she grimaced, "I did not need to know that!"

"What?" Rachel looked at her curiously. "It's hardly anything to be ashamed of. Quinn is an entirely desirable woman and imminently flexible when it comes to bedroom activities. Unfortunately, though the sex was amazing, our compatibility is limited to merely friendship. Pity. She makes the most adorable noises when she climaxes." Shrugging, she went back to eating her sandwich.

"Stop... please, God, stop!" Santana exclaimed. "I do not ever want to know about you and Q fucking! God, if I hadn't sworn off sex already... you just killed any desire I had left!" She honestly looked like she was going to throw up at the information being carelessly tossed around.

"Sworn off sex?" Rachel turned her attention to her directly, looking surprised. "That doesn't seem like you, Santana. You still have the same very sensual manner of moving. I would assume you could get any woman... or man you set your sights on."

"Eh... I've got twenty-seven pounds of baggage hanging on me all the time," she shrugged and took another bit of her food.

"Oh yes, the child that Quinn mentioned," she nodded, taking another bite and chewing thoughtfully. "I don't see why that should be a difficulty unless she has a disability and even then I see no cause to regard the child as baggage. Becky was certainly a joy to be around in high school... even if she did occasionally behave like a miniature Sue Sylvester. That was very disconcerting."

"No, no... Brooklyn is very healthy and perfect, but she is my world and I don't need anyone else fucking things up. She doesn't need to deal with women coming in and out of her life."

"Women... Oh so you _are_ gay!" Rachel smiled as if she'd just made a miraculous discovery. "I was beginning to become disconcerted with the idea that your self-discovery in high school had become null and void following the birth of your child. And may I just say that Brooklyn is an amazing name. Not quite as amazing as Barbra of course, but how could I possibly dislike the idea of a child named after part of this amazing city? Of course you wouldn't want anything to disrupt her life. I understand entirely."

"Brooklyn is her name because of where I went into labor." Santana chuckled sadly. "Walking home from work on the bridge... in the rain." Santana closed her take out box that was more than half full. "Hence her name is Brooklyn Rain Lopez... I'm not very creative."

"I still like it." Rachel shrugged. "It's an evocative name. Perhaps the circumstances were less than ideal, but you have your child and assuming you can tolerate me, you have a job. A job where if something comes up with Brooklyn, you have standing leave to go. No questions asked. A parent's first job is their child." She nodded firmly. "Just please leave a note if you can't find me to let me know. I would be very disconcerted to be abandoned again and might believe that you have surrendered the position."

"Not a problem," she said, pushing her hair behind her ears. "She won't interfere with work, I promise." Santana smiled. "Enough about her, what about this position I should know?" she asked, uncomfortable with sharing too much about her daughter with anyone.

"Simply enough, you're my assistant. What that entails is fairly straightforward. You arrange my calendar, ensure I am not late to events, accompany me when there is no alternative, and run errands for me. Fairly simple, don't you think?"

"Yep, a monkey could do it." Santana said, not enthusiastic about being Rachel's lackey. "It will be fine."

"Santana, kindly name me another position in this city that will pay you - what... fifty or sixty thousand? - to simply run errands, keep a calendar and occasionally attend a club event in the company of your employer and will likely send you home by three or four when I start preparing for my first matinee show?" She cocked a brow at Santana, leaning back against the bench. "I don't know of any off hand, but perhaps you do."

"Nope," she sighed, struggling to suck up her pride. "That's why I took it when offered, why I didn't bail when I found out... when I saw Quinn... I told you already, I need the job and am grateful for it."

"Good. And besides, it's not like I'm going to send you for coffee all the time - I usually get my own when I head into work at seven - or make you clean disgusting things - that's what janitors are for. You're basically just going to be yourself and help me out. If you want to take care of your own errands while accomplishing mine, I don't mind. If it helps, you're more Quinn's eyes and ears in my life than my lackey. She's made it eminently clear you work for her and I only am allowed your services at her tolerance."

"That really just sounds like I'm your whore," Santana said as she put the container neatly back in her plastic bag and knotted the top. "But that's cool. I might take you up on the errand thing sometime, Brooke likes to go with me but sometimes it's easier without her tagging along."

"Um, wow. Crude much?" Rachel shook her head, "That's not a service I'll ever expect from you, Santana. But if you need time off to take Brooklyn to the doctor or shopping, that's fine. Just let me know. Oh, speaking of shopping, I occasionally need to attend what I like to call _schmooze galas_ to talk up investors and make connections. Would you be interested in assisting in the selection of an appropriate gown when these events come up? Normally I don't trust the assistants Quinn's sent me, but I like to think I have a bit better idea as to your sense of style and trust it a bit more than theirs."

"Yeah." Santana smiled, "I would loves to get you glammed up in something that was not a oddly puffy pink dress like your prom one or that ugly as fuck wedding dress you wore for five minutes..." She joked, "But, I do like this new style of yours."

"Hey, I didn't exactly have the most fashion forward selection to pick through," Rachel defended. "Both of those dresses came from Goodwill. I didn't have the money for anything better." She shrugged, looking down at her slim jeans and belted button up shirt, "This you can blame on Quinn though. She informed me in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't be living with the amount of argyle and animal sweaters I owned when we first found out we'd be living together. I currently only own argyle socks and three animals sweaters which I was only allowed to keep from sentimental value. They were gifts from my departed grandparents."

Santana just shook her head and chuckled, "I'll give you that." She smiled, "But my four year old dresses better than you did in high school and we shop at Goodwill too." She raised her eyebrow, "But hey, whatever."

"Well, I get a clothing allowance to look amazing for those silly things, so if you can pull it off without spending it all, consider the rest a bonus." Rachel finished up her pita, tossing the wrapper in a nearby can. "I don't really know the details of your pay or anything, Quinn handles that, but the rest of today is mine, so if you want, you can go off and do your thing now. Oh! Wait. Do you have a cellphone? If I can get the number, I'll give you a call if I need any help later today or if I need to let you know about something going on tomorrow."

"Sure." Santana scribbled down her number. "I go to bed late and am up early if you ever need me. And I have Internet."

"That is wonderful," she murmured, accepting the piece of napkin with Santana's number and stowing it in her purse. "Well, then. I'll see you tomorrow? Does nine sound like a good start?"

"Sure. At the theatre? Do you want me to get you breakfast or anything?" She asked, grabbing her notebook and looking at the other girl.

"Yes, at the theatre and I eat at home around six thirty, so don't worry about getting me breakfast." Rachel paused, then smiled hesitantly. "It's good seeing you again, Santana. I'm actually glad you're okay. At least half of us thought you'd died when you disappeared."

Santana shrugged, "Better than the truth." She mumbled before getting up and brushing off her pants. "If you don't need me anymore I'm gonna go surprise my kid by picking her up early."

"Being alive is always better than being dead, Santana," Rachel remarked mildly. "But, no, I shouldn't need you for the rest of the day, so feel free. Give Quinn a call when you get home and I'm sure she'll have figured out the pertinent details such as when you get paid and how you'll pay for my errands because that certainly shouldn't come out of your pocket. It'll be good working with you again. Thanks for accepting the job."

Santana shrugged and pulled her sunglasses over her eyes. "See you tomorrow, Berry." She said before grabbed her left overs and started to walk away.


	2. Chapter 2

Brooklyn giggled softly as she slid out of bed and tiptoed over to the futon. It wasn't very often that she woke up before her mom and she was excited by the prospect of getting to be the one doing the waking. Carefully clambering up onto the bed, she crawled over until she was leaning over her mom, grinning happily as she reached over to wiggle Santana's shoulder.

"Wake up, Mommy," she whispered, "Mommy... mommy, time for waking up."

Santana mumbled, her face buried in her pillow and her long black hair messily cascading over the white linen. She raised her hand and weakly tried to swat at the disturbance and failed. After a few more pokes she groaned and mumbled words that got muffled by her pillow.

Brooklyn giggled and poked her again. "Mommy, come on. Time to get up. Time for breakfast."

"No, baby." Santana mumbled, turning her head to the side and pushing her hair back off her face. "Baby, it's sleep time. Lay down with mommy and sleep." she whispered letting her eyes fall closed again.

"It's morning, Mommy," she pouted, poking at her mom's shoulder. "Bright out." She pointed through the door at the living/kitchen space where the apartment's one window shone in.

Santana grumbled again and pulled the little girl onto her stomach when she rolled over. "Why do you have so much energy?" Santana asked as she pushed the little girl's hair away from her face.

"Cause I'm little," she grinned up at her mom, hugging her. "Morning, Mommy."

"Good morning, baby." She whispered, "Did you sleep well?" She asked as she ran her hand through the child's hair. "Have good dreams?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, cuddling with her mom. "I like when you're home," she whispered. "Good job. Better than last."

"Very good." She smiled, "I like being home too. You're my favorite thing in the world, Brooklyn." She kissed her daughter's face all over and smiled. "You ready to go look at kindergarten? We can have breakfast and mommy will take you over to see the school, then I'll drop you at preschool. Ms. Rita's is going to pick you up after lunch with Pedro and her granddaughter."

"Real school?" The little girl lit up. "I like school! Can we go to school now, Mommy? I wanna learn stuff."

"No, baby, we gotta get you a little bit bigger. You'll start after Christmas, okay?" She kissed her daughter head and sat up, carrying her to the bathroom in her arms. "I'm gonna shower, do you wanna come in or go play?"

Brooklyn pouted when she learned she wouldn't be able to start school right away, but perked up at the idea of a shower. "I'm itchy. I was hot in bed. Can I shower?" she asked pleadingly.

Santana nodded and quickly undressed her and set her on the ground as she got undressed. She got the water started and made sure it wasn't too hot before getting them inside. "Close your eyes." She said as she made sure her daughter didn't get any water in them. "We can ask if you can start sooner but you're not five until December."

"Want to start now, Mom. Why do I have to be five?" Brooklyn pouted, letting her mom wash her hair.

"Because they want five year olds to all start together." She shrugged, "I know you wanna start now, but Ms. Rita is helping you get your Spanish perfect right? And I'm helping with your reading."

"But it's stupid," she pouted. "I don't want to wait. I wanna learn now, Mommy."

"I know, beautiful." She sighed. "I'll ask okay?" She said as she washed her daughter's hair and rinsed it. She conditioned it before doing her own.

"Thank you, Mommy," Brooklyn mumbled, hugging Santana. "Can I wash your back?"

Santana chuckled and moved to kneel down and hand the girl the loofah. "So you know we're going to go for that test before Christmas, right? We need to keep practicing on the test book on the weekend." She reminded her daughter.

She nodded. "I know, Mommy. I'm gonna work hard."

"Not too hard, baby. You're my little butterfly and you don't need to do anything special to be awesome." She smiled and turned her daughter around to help wash her before turning off the water and wrapping them in towels. She sat Brooklyn on the counter and brushed her own hair out before doing the little girl's. "I'm so happy you have thin hair, not gross thick hair like me." Santana remarked as she towel dried Brooklyn's hair.

"I like your hair," Brooklyn looked back at her. "It's warm and smells good." Turning back forward, "Mommy, can we have Spanish eggs for breakfast?"

"Of course." She smiled, "and you're warm and smell good too." She smiled as she pulled her own hair into a long side braid. "Want to leave your down or ponytail?" She asked as she put a small amount of makeup on her own face.

"Can I have my hair like yours?" she asked curiously, tugging on the braid gently. "I wanna look like you, Mommy."

She kissed Brooklyn's forehead. "You always look like me, you're my baby." Santana smiled, she pulled her daughter's hair into a braid and tied it back. Santana stood back and looked at her daughter. "You're my world." She whispered. "I love you so much, Brooke."

"I love you too, Mommy." Brooklyn smiled, hugging her. "Can I help make breakfast? Then we can go see the real school?"

Santana picked her up, "Yes but we need to get dressed first! No cooking in the nude!" She laughed as she plopped Brooklyn on the bed and headed to the closet to pull them each an outfit out. Santana grabbed a jeans and her black knee high boots. She pulled on a white dress shirt and a form fitting suit jacket. She walked over and helped Brooklyn into a pair of black leggings and a pair of flat ankle boots. "Panda shirt or blue button up shirt and belt?"

"Blue shirt and belt!" She clapped after pulling on her underwear and socks. "So I look like you." She beamed up at her mom, enjoying getting to spend the day with her.

Santana pulled a little tank top over her daughter head before helping her into the shirt and putting the belt around her waist. "Growing up so fast." She smiled and picked her up and carried her into the kitchen.

She sat her on the counter while she brewed coffee and got the eggs out for breakfast. She picked up the salsa and spices and the loaf of bread she picked up from the market. "Spanish eggs and apple juice for Mariposa." She smiled as she cracked the eggs and handed the fork to Brooklyn to mix them like she always did, "and Spanish eggs for mommy with coffee. What do you want for lunch at school today?"

Brooklyn wrinkled up her nose in thought as she whipped the eggs. "Um... peanut butter, please. Can I have a banana too?"

Santana started the pan with a bit of diced onion and butter. "Of course." She said as she took two pieces of bread, put some peanut butter on them and cut the sandwich into squares. She grabbed Brooklyn's lunch box and put it in the sandwich container and then pulled a banana from the counter and put it in. "You get a milk at school, don't forget okay?" She reminded the girl before closing it and going back to the pan. She slid the uncooked eggs in the hot pan and added spices. "Want toast or just eggs?"

She thought about it for a moment, legs kicking idly on the cabinet below her. "Um. Toast, please. Can I make it?"

"Be careful, but yes." She smiled and handed her two pieces. "You know how just watch your fingers." Santana reminded her as she pulled down two mismatched plates that she picked up at the area Goodwill. She put some salsa in the eggs and then put them on the plates with a couple apple slices each. She grabbed their drinks and put the plates on the table before going back to the counter then the toast popped up.

Brooklyn grabbed the toast up out of the toaster piece by piece, dropping each quickly onto their third plate. "Butter, please?" she asked, knowing they couldn't always afford the real stuff, but using the term for the tub of margarine in the fridge.

"Of course. Go sit down okay, beautiful?" Santana said as she grabbed the tub. She brought it to the table and smiled. "Gimme your hand," she said with a smile as Brooklyn placed her palm in her mom's. She bowed her head and closed her eyes. "Thank you, Lord, for your bounty of food that keeps little Brooklyn so smart and her momma not hungry. Thank you every day for giving me my beautiful, brilliant daughter who lights up my world and everyone else's she meets. Amen." She smiled and opened her eyes. "Eat."

"Amen. Thank you for breakfast, Mommy," Brooklyn smiled at her, scooping up a forkful and carefully blowing on it before putting it in her mouth and chewing. After she swallowed, she pushed another forkful together with her toast. "I like having eggs. Can you work this job always?"

Santana took a bite. "I'm gonna try." She smiled, and took a sip of her coffee.

She loved having any time she could with her child. Brooklyn made her life complete, like she was always meant to happen despite all the disasters that came along with her conception. She couldn't help look at her daughter and know that she couldn't provide her a father, nor could she honestly tell her child that he loved her even though he wasn't around. She knew it wasn't the truth and she hoped that the girl would never ask. She continued eating and chatting with her until they had to leave to walk over to the school that Brooklyn would be attending if admitted.

Brooklyn held onto her mom's hand as they walked. "Mommy, I love you lots. Thank you for taking me to school."

"Of course, baby, they want you to come here." She smiled, "You are gonna get the best education I can get you." She smiled and swung their hands.

* * *

Rachel came out of her kitchen with the steaming plates of Chinese as Quinn made herself at home on the couch. "I can't believe she's actually back. And that she has a _child_!" She shook her head, handing Quinn the plate full of noodles, chicken and vegetables while she kept her vegan Buddha's Delight to herself as she sat down. "I mean, can you even _imagine_ a miniature Santana Lopez running around?"

"Probably cute as hell, Santana still looks better than anyone I've ever met in person. I kinda hate her for that," Quinn said as she took her plate. "I still can't figure it out. Did she tell you how old the kid was? I never could pinpoint an answer."

"Hmm," Rachel chewed the bite she'd taken, thinking back over her conversation with Santana. "I don't... wait! No, she told me her four year old dresses better than I used to." She frowned, "I still don't see what was so horrendous about what I used to wear. I _was_ getting slushied practically every day. Linen and organic cottons do _not_ take well to that sort of treatment."

"Four?" Quinn calculated in her head. "There's a really high chance she was pregnant at graduation..." she said quietly, "That means it might be the kid of someone we know. Did she mention anything about a dad?"

"No. I didn't ask," she shrugged, pushing her food around. "Despite the fact that she was one of my bridesmaids at that ridiculous attempt at a marriage, we were never really that sort of friends. It didn't seem proper to inquire about."

"Huh..." Quinn tried to think about the last few months of school. "My accident was in late March..." she thought, "Was Santana acting weird after that? I mean she never really talked much when she brought me my homework for the classes we had together. Did she act weird at school? I wasn't there so I can't remember..."

"Weirder than usual? Eat before it gets cold," Rachel nudged her with her shoulder, chewing up her own bite. "I don't know. She wasn't as vicious with her words, so I just assumed she was happy for once. I didn't even know about Brittany returning to Artie until graduation."

"Yeah. They kept that on the sly... Brittany kind of forced San out and then dumped her, I wished I could have been there to help San, but you know her... she's kinda emotionally retarded." Quinn sighed as she ate for a moment.

"That term is both offensive and not exceptionally kind, Quinn," Rachel chided gently. "She very clearly was having trouble in high school with coming to terms with her own sexuality. You weren't exactly the world's most outstanding heterosexual yourself back then, you know. Pornographic pictures of me in the bathrooms, Quinn? Really?"

"I liked those short skirts you wore." Quinn shrugged, "I think Brittany was just an idiot. She was blind to the fact the girl wanted to give her the world and she just threw her away." She sighed and closed her eyes, "Do you think she was pregnant at graduation?"

"I think Brittany was cruel to do that to her, nonetheless," Rachel shrugged, eating a little more. "I don't really know. I mean, I suppose it's possible. Perhaps Brittany engaged in some behavior which made Santana question her sexuality again? I mean, girls who identify as lesbians do have a shockingly higher rate of teen pregnancy than straight girls. Could it just have been an accident of - I believe the term is _gay panic_?"

"Don't just give it to the lesbians, Rachel." Quinn sighed, "Bisexuals get gay panic too... I should know." She looked over at her former girlfriend and shrugged, "I don't know... Santana's not stupid like I was. She's been having sex longer than any of us and she wouldn't take that much of a risk. I hope she wasn't drunk... I kind of wish I knew, I could have helped her out."

"I can assure you I wasn't giving them all the credit. Bisexuals are included in the groups of sexual minorities of which lesbians are a part after all," Rachel nodded, snipping a carrot in half with her front teeth. "I wouldn't begin to speculate on the details of the night of Santana's child's conception, though I do believe we are agreed in a mutual desire to have known so that we may have offered support and consolation if necessary. She told me she went into labor while walking over the Brooklyn Bridge in the rain." She shook her head, sighing sadly. "I may not have truly been a friend, but I hate that she had to experience the birth of her child alone."

Quinn took a breath. "Fuck... I mean, it was scary enough and I had everyone around me and my mom..." She looked down, "God, I wonder what her parents think."

"Can it be anything good?" Rachel glanced over at Quinn with a raised brow. "I mean, she did feel the need to flee Lima most precipitability following graduation after all. I can recall being unable to find her the next morning, so I believe she had made her exit by then."

"Yeah. She didn't even go to any of the parties." Quinn sighed as she continued eating, "But... wow. I really am wondering what the kid is like... and who the father is." She had a lingering fear that the baby was Puck's. He always had a weak spot for the other former cheerio and there was a strong possibility that he was just slimy enough to have sex with her while she was heartbroken.

"Is it even our place to wonder such things, Quinn? I mean, Santana has made a great deal of effort to segregate her personal life from the work experience that we will be a part of." She looked worried, "I mean, if we insist upon pushing, aren't you afraid she might run again? I admit that I am curious as to the identity of her child's progenitor, but she did only _just_ re-enter our lives. Might this line of questioning be a tad hasty?"

"Jesus, Rach!" Quinn gaped at her. "I'm not gonna walk up and ask _who spermed you up_!" she said with a shake of her head. "I'm just hoping to God it wasn't Puck, alright?"

Rachel thought about it, finishing her meal. "That doesn't seem very likely, Quinn," she remarked once she finished. "Noah spent much of the rest of the year assisting me with getting you your assignments and helping Finn to modify Judy's home to allow you access in your wheelchair when you finally got out. I honestly don't believe he had time for any random sexual encounters with Santana or anyone else for that matter."

"I hope. I don't need your half sister having the same dad as your assistant's kid." She sighed, her mind momentarily wandering off to think about her nearly eight year old daughter. "Too strange," she said with a shake of her head. "But, you're right." She said putting her plate on the table and flopping over to rest her head on Rachel's shoulder. "We should let Santana be until she wants to tell us."

"Yeah," Rachel leaned her head against Quinn's. "We've all done quite a bit of growing up in the last few years. Perhaps she'll accept the quiet overtures of friendship now better than you did in high school. Not that my overtures were remarkably _quiet_ in high school."

"You are still a loud mouth." Quinn sighed, "I'm crashing here tonight, okay?" She asked softly as she closed her eyes, her mind running over time at the new developments. "I don't like being an adult."

"That's fine. You know you're always welcome to stay, Quinn. There is _one_ benefit of being an adult, however," she suggested with a slight hint of a smirk. "That being that I am not entirely breaking the law by possessing a nice bottle of Mosel Riesling or by offering to share the consumption of said bottle with my best friend. Would you care for a glass? We can say it's in celebration of the return of your... best friend." If her smile faltered slightly at the choice of phrase, Rachel believed she was a proficient enough actress to hide it.

"Did you go somewhere?" Quinn raised her eyebrow. "Because you're my best friend," she pointed out as she got up and grabbed two glasses and the corkscrew.

"Well, no," Rachel allowed as she got up to retrieve the bottle, "but Santana does have precedence after all. I'm not so callow and foolish as to not realize that she's been an important part of your life for quite a bit longer than I have."

Quinn flopped back down. "Don't be stupid." She said as she took the bottle and opened it. "You're my Rachel... It's simple." She poured two glasses, "Don't forget it, okay?"

She smiled sheepishly, settling back onto the couch. "I'll try. Am I entirely foolish for fearing that her reappearance in our lives will trigger an end to our approaching idyllic friendship? I mean, she wasn't exactly on the stage with us for the previous maturation of our relationship to this stage. Her sudden appearance could signal a catastrophic change..."

The blonde turned and looked at her friend. "You're not gonna lose me," she said sternly. "You have had your tongue in places I'm too much of a lady to say out loud," she smirked and poked her ex-girlfriend's nose, "We have a bond."

"And may I be so bold as to point out that the experiences of my tongue within certain places only ended because of your instance?" Rachel smirked at her over the rim of the glass, taking a large sip, "I was perfectly content with the idea of remaining - I believe the phrase is _best friends with benefits_ \- during the times when both of us are unattached, but you wanted a relationship or nothing. Too bad that was a disaster of nearly epic proportions between us."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Hey, hey," she laughed, "just because I like relationships doesn't mean I didn't very much enjoy our time together. Who knows you might get lucky again someday," she took a sip of her wine. "But don't hold your breath."

Rachel laughed, "You're _still_ a tease, Fabray. I liked a lot of the relationship parts with you." She smiled softly, looking down at the wine she was swirling gently in her glass. "The fights were heartrending though. We know far too much about how to hurt each other, I'm afraid, and not enough about how to patch it up again after. I'm glad we ended it before our friendship ended as well."

"Me too, Rach," Quinn softly sighed. "I know I hurt you a lot... and I know I drank a lot in college... so I'm sorry that I caused a lot of it, our issues and whatever," she whispered and pressed a kiss to the other girl's temple. "but, it's better now."

She nodded, leaning against her friend, "You're right. We make much better friends than lovers. At least now when we fight it's about important things," she smirked, "like my burgeoning career and fame as an actress under your impeccable management."

"Damn right," she said. "Wanna watch a movie or some crappy TV?"

"Sure," Rachel agreed, loosely wrapping an arm around her waist. "I've got vegan popcorn if you'd like some or more wine. And I'm not entirely opposed to cuddling when we're ready for bed, unless that's also on the proscribed list of activities not to be done outside of a relationship."

"I think we can handle it." She smiled and grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels. "I'm good without popcorn, just wine and my best friend."

"Sounds like a wonderful night," Rachel said with a smile, leaning against her and sipping from her glass.


	3. Chapter 3

Santana sat at the small table in Quinn's office. She worked there during the days in which Rachel was out and taking personal time but still needed some work done from her assistant. She looked over some of the specs for a photoshoot that the pint-sized actress was requested for.

"Does Rachel mind semi-nude?" She asked, looking up to Quinn. "For a photoshoot I mean."

Quinn sighed, looking over the demo shots they'd been offered for what "semi-nude" pertained. "I'm not sure that _she_ would mind, but I do. Semi-nude for women is exploitation, pure and simple. They don't demand the same thing of men after all, and I have photoshoot specs for male clients to prove it."

"Okay, I'll call them and tell them that it's fully clothed or we walk?" She asked softly as she looked at her boss.

"That," she closed the folder, smiling at Santana, "sounds like an _excellent_ idea. I knew I made a good decision hiring you, Santana. Besides, you know what Rachel considers fully clothed and it's damn near semi-nude anyway. Those freaking skirts," she shook her head.

"Still got the hots for the midget?" Santana teased, letting it be known that she knew about the girl's relationship.

She laughed softly, "That part of our relationship is entirely over and done, Santana." She looked up at the girl across from her, "But she's still my best friend. I don't want her hurt. And agreeing to shoots like this," she tossed one of the lingerie clad model photos onto the desk between them, "would do that."

Santana looked down at the photo and smirked. "That chick's fucking hot though," she said before pushing it aside, "So what, you gay now Fabray? Or just a college thing?"

"As if it's any of your business," Quinn cocked a brow at her, "I prefer the term bisexual. I'm not opposed to romantic overtures from either gender. And allow me to assure you, that," she gestured at the model, "would have nothing on Rachel in the same situation." She smirked, knowing it would make Santana uncomfortable to think of their former teammate in that position, "But it is certainly too hot to be published."

"Ew, homo," Santana teased, "I don't wanna know what you freaks do together." She said with a smile as looked back over the contract.

"Whatever, you know you wish you could be in the middle of that," Quinn teased, leaning back in her chair as she regarded Santana. "I want you to be my eyes and ears on this, San. Anything seems funny to you, get her out. Okay?"

"That's why you hired me right?" Santana smiled, "I got this, being a bitch is half of my personality." She said as she gathered the papers up. "It doesn't get to come out and play too much, but it's still there."

"Good. I know you'll get the job done." Quinn let out a breath and opened her mouth as if to say something else when Santana's phone started playing "We represent the Lollipop Guild!" and she had to clap a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. "Oh my God, Santana, is that your ringtone for Rachel?"

"Maybe." Santana smiled and picked up her phone, "What up, Boss Lady?" Santana asked as she grabbed her notebook.

"Santana! Thank _God_ you answered!" Rachel sounded desperate and tinny through the tiny speaker. "A _catastrophe_ has occurred! My life is in imminent danger of being ruined!"

"Santana," Quinn hissed, smirking, "put it on speaker. This should be good."

The young mother put it on speaker and put it on the table. "Breathe, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Coffee!" Rachel panted and Quinn barely kept from laughing out loud at the panic in her best friend's voice, "It spilled and it's all over the dress I'm supposed to wear to tonight's event! It's _ruined_ , Santana! What am I going to _do_? I've got less than five hours to be ready! I don't have time to find another dress!"

"Why the fuck were you wearing or _touching_ your dress this early?" Santana scolded, "I swear to God..."

"I have only _five hours_ to get ready, Santana," Rachel reminded her, "That is _barely_ enough time and this _idiot_ of a hair stylist bumped the cup over." Faint sounds of crying could be heard in the background. Rachel's voice got faint for a moment, "Shut up! I'm not going to kill you!"

Santana started laughing and shook her head. "Calm your annoying tits down." She said as she stood up and grabbed her bag and shoved all her things into her messenger bag. "I'll be there soon with a new dress. Just let your hair dresser do your hair and shut the fuck up."

"Thank you, Santana, you're a Godsend." You could almost hear Rachel's smile through the phone as the call ended.

"Santana," Quinn called as Santana started heading towards the door, "here." She tossed her an envelope, "That'll access Berry's expense account. You're authorized on it. Don't go crazy, but it should cover a replacement dress."

"Word," Santana nodded as she put it in her pocket. "See ya." She said as she raced out of the office building and over to a vintage shop she knew well.

* * *

Nearly an hour later Santana busted into Rachel's apartment. "Berry!" Santana called out, looking for the diva only to finally locate her sitting on her bed in just panties and her bra. "Jesus, my eyes!" She cried out as she covered her face with the dress bag.

"Shut up, Satan," Rachel growled, stalking over and grabbing the bag, "You've seen me in less when you walked in on me changing at Nationals. Stop being such a prude. What did you find?"

"Did you eat anything?" Santana asked, "Because, you are not putting this dress on until you have food inside you so I know you won't spill or drink a glass of wine and get shit faced at the event."

Rachel blinked then raised an eyebrow, "And you'd rather join me in dining with me in nothing more than I'm wearing if that was the case?" She gestured down at her black panties and strapless bra. "Though I suppose with this dress, the bra will have to go," she mused, looking at it through the clear plastic covering it.

"Your boobs are small," Santana shrugged, "Though, I grabbed some double sided tape just in case. Don't want you nip-slipping tonight." She said before hanging the dress on the door and heading into the kitchen. "Nothing too heavy but you need something in you before you go."

"Don't worry, Mom," Rachel smirked, rolling her eyes, "I had a salad with edeamae, cucumbers, and watercress. And a couple of tomatoes and vegan croutons to spice things up. In other words, I ate. Don't worry."

The other woman glared, "Well then. Did you send the hairdresser away before he could do your makeup?" she asked coming back into the bedroom.

"What's wrong with how I look?" Rachel asked curiously, "And besides, I thought I should wait until my dress was on for that. Don't need to risk smearing anything. And that woman is not allowed back here. _Ever_." She glared as menacingly as she could - which, against Santana, was about as menacing as a two month old kitten.

"Seriously?" Santana chucked, "My child give more terrifying looks then you do." She smiled and grabbed the make up. "Its a deep V neck, you won't smudge. Let me do your eyes."

Shrugging, Rachel got up and sat down at the vanity, closing her eyes, "Alright. I trust you."

Santana carefully crouched next to Rachel and put some darker shades on her eye lids, "You seriously have the longest eyelashes ever," Santana smiled as she delicately put a dusting of green to balance the black and greys of her make up and the dress. After awhile she pulled away and turned Rachel to the mirror. "A little more the normal, but given the occasion. I think it works."

"My eyelashes aren't that long," she muttered self-consciously, look at her reflection in the mirror, a light blush darkening her cheeks. "Wow, Santana. Thank you."

"It's my job." she smiled, "Okay, your car will be here soon. Bra off and let's get you taped up."

Standing, Rachel removed her bra and tossed it to the bed without a second thought. Dressed in nothing but her panties, she walked over to the bed and started pulling the plastic from the dress. "I don't think I've worn something this low cut before, actually," she remarked, idly. "It's too bad you can't attend with me. You might have had some fun, but I do understand needing to be with your daughter when it's time for her to sleep." She turned back to Santana with the dress in her arms, "Help me with this?"

"Uh... yeah." Santana shook her head and walked over. "It's gonna look great on you. Brooke and I walked past it a few weeks ago in the village and I thought of you so yeah..." She unzipped it carefully and helped slide it over Rachel's hair. "I'm glad you left your hair down."

"It's really the only way that looks the best," she admitted, reaching up to help Santana maneuver the dress down over her body. "Besides, after kicking the hair stylist out, it's really all I could manage on my own."

"Looks good." Santana said as she zipped it up and smoothed it down on Rachel's body. "Looks really good." she smiled and grabbed the tape from the bag. "Alright let's hide the nipples."

"Okay, I have _no_ idea what you intend on doing with that roll," Rachel's eyes were wide as she backed uncertainly towards the bed, "but it looks like you bought it from a hardware store and that is not a kink I am at all interested in exploring on any level, Santana."

"Shut it." she said before cutting a piece of the double sided tape and securing the dress down with it. "Keeps your tits away."

"You just wanted to tape me into my dress," her eyes narrowed at Santana as she tried to push up from where she'd fallen on the bed trying to get away from Santana.

"I don't want your tits all over the papers or blogs tomorrow." She retorted.

"Mmhmm," Rachel murmured, nodding but watching Santana warily. "Now I know for sure you're Quinn's spy. She's the only one who gets upset about my breasts being seen."

"As I told her earlier, I do not wanna know about you two fucking." Santana said as she got off the bed once she fixed the other side. "Now let me see what shoes you should wear."

Rachel snorted, "No, you probably just wish you were there." She waved at the closet, "They're all in there. I don't know what I might have that'll be appropriate for this though."

Santana looked through and shrugged, "Alright tiny," she said, "You wreck my shoes and I'll cut you." Santana said before grabbing her bag. "My dad got me these before he found out... but they'll look amazing with this dress."

"Santana, I," Rachel looked at the shoes and shook her head, "No, I can't. I usually have to dance with people at these things and they are often hideous. Your shoes would be ruined and I don't want that. I," her eyes widened, "wait! I got a new pair of shoes sent here the other day!" She pushed up off the bed and headed for the other room.

Santana followed and scoffed, "You can not wear those. They would ruin the outfit. Just wear these, God they're Loubioutin!" She exclaimed, "They will allow you to dance since they're like a bootie but match the V of the dress since they have that cut down the centre. Seriously, I wore them once and that's it. Just wear them!" Santana demanded, wishing that Rachel would just take them so she didn't pawn them like she had been contemplating over the years.

"But Santana," Rachel looked almost upset, "they were a gift from your father..."

"Who disowned me," She pointed out sitting down on the bed, "Look ether you wear them or I continue to let Brooklyn use them for dress up. Like I have anywhere to wear them. Just put them on and look hot, okay?"

Rachel looked from the shoes in her hands to Santana and back a couple of times before carefully placing them on the bed and leaning over to hug the other woman. "Thank you, Santana. I'll take care of them, I promise. Of course, you _would_ have somewhere to wear them if you'd come to an event with me," she teased, leaning back to slip the shoes on.

"Unless it's a children's movie premiere, I doubt it." Santana smiled, "Brooklyn and I have a routine. I'm gone enough as it is and I like putting her to bed. We read a chapter from her latest book and I sing and then she sleeps. It's nice, she deserves that bit of normalcy."

"It sounds nice," Rachel smiled wistfully. "My dads were usually too busy with work. They're sweet and loving men, but sometimes they forgot the little things. I'm sure you're a wonderful mom, Santana. Perhaps I should see about arranging to arrive an an event after your routine sometime so you can join me for a little while and live a little." She smiled, offering friendship to her assistant and former rival, "It'd be fun to have a friend with me."

"Maybe," Santana said, "But, I can't promise anything. Though it does sound really nice, but I'd prefer low key, glam stuff isn't really important to me anymore." she shrugged and looked down, "Plus, I don't have anyone to watch Brooke... so it's even harder."

"What about Quinn?" Rachel shrugged, "She really misses Beth a lot and she might not mind doing it once in a while if Brooklyn is already sleeping."

"Again... there are too many what-if's, Rachel. What if she gets up and scared, she's never really been away from me at night. She's not really that old despite how she presents herself." Santana sighed, as right on cue her phone started playing _You are my Sunshine_ started playing. "Speaking of." Santana got up and answered her call softly.

"Hi baby girl." Santana smiled, "I know. I know babe, but remember how mommy said that you would have dinner with Ms. Rita tonight? That I would come pick you up as soon as I could?" She said as she tried to shield her call from Rachel. "Mariposa, you know that sometimes being mommy's big girl means dealing with things that upset us." She rubbed at her eyes, "What is she making?" She listened to the crying little girl explain they were having pork and she didn't eat that. "I know, how about you just munch on the rice and salad and mommy will make you hot cocoa before bed?" she waited for a few moments. "Brooklyn, you need to stop crying, okay? I can't talk to you if you are slobbering over Ms. Rita's phone." She smiled when she heard her daughter's telltale noise she made when she was _sucking it up_. "Good girl. Now, you go have some rice and I'll see you very soon." When Brooklyn hung up she sighed and shoved her phone in her pocket before turning to Rachel. "Sorry..."

Rachel just smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Your daughter is your first priority. I think that's an excellent quality in a person. Why don't you go home to her? I know Quinn must have given you a card for my expense account, so use a cab. Don't worry, I'm authorizing it. Don't make me authorize you picking up dinner on top of it," she mock threatened.

"Nope, Brooklyn needs to remember because she cries does not automatically mean I come home to her." Santana said, "She knows better than that, I told her I would be picking her up at 6:30, and I intend to keep my promise."

"If you insist," Rachel shrugged, "but you're still welcome to grab something for dinner for the two of you on my account since you'd have been home sooner if not for my disaster."

"We have food at home, but thank you." She said before going into Rachel's kitchen and picking up. "You're kinda a slob, Berry."

"I kind of have been freaking out about this stupid gala all day," she defended herself. "You don't have to clean up after me, Santana. You're my assistant, not my maid."

"Eh." Santana shrugged, "So, I'm gonna pick you up tomorrow at noon for that photoshoot," she reminded Rachel. "Just shower they'll do the rest there."

"Okay," she nodded, "anything else? What was the bottom line on the photoshoot? I know Quinn doesn't like semi-nude, but I don't really see what the big deal is."

"Because you're still new in the business and you don't need your rep being about your tits and ass, make it about your face and everyone will follow to your voice." Santana said as she took a sip of a glass of water. "It's as simple as that."

Rachel blinked. "I never thought of it like that." She frowned. "Ugh, to think I would have let myself be turned into a T-and-A girl," she shuddered. "This is why I need more worldly friends to help guide me."

"I read a lot of magazines." Santana shrugged, "I have more respect for actresses that tease the sexuality, versus the ones that just let it all out." She looked over at Rachel and gave her a slight smile, "Plus, yo... I have a little girl... I do not want her to grow up to emulate one of those girls. I don't want her to be a slut."

"I don't think posing semi-nude for a legitimate photoshoot makes you a _slut_ , Santana," Rachel chided, "but I see your point. I suppose I wouldn't want that for my child either if I were ever to have one." She grimaced, "I especially don't think I would want them to find photos of me indelicately posed either."

"Totally." She nodded, moving over to fix Rachel's dress. "Like, I'm nowhere near the model for growing up and being a _lady_. I know my past and it is what it is... But, Brooklyn despite that is perfect and brilliant and I don't want any of this real world mechanisms of beauty to weigh her down. She knows she's different but she likes it."

"I highly doubt any child you create could be ugly, Santana," Rachel remarked mildly, gathering up her purse and things with a glance at the clock. "And your past doesn't really matter unless you let it. You're a lady to your daughter and isn't that enough?" She offered Santana a lopsided smile, "You've seen both sides of things. Popular and down and out. I'm sure you'll raise a lovely young lady."

"Eh. Freakish child is already asking to go to school and they're testing her for the gifted program... she's raising me I think some days." Santana looked at the clock, "Alright, your car should be downstairs."

"I'm sure it is," she said, smiling at Santana as she wrapped a stole around her shoulders to protect from the chill, "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like. Just lock it up after you go. I have my keys and if not, it wouldn't be the first time I found myself impinging on Quinn's friendship with my inebriated self."

"Wankey." Santana chuckled. "Nah, I'm gonna go pick up cranky pants," She explained and grabbed her bag. "You look great and I'll text in the morning at like ten so you can sleep off your hangover before the shoot." She walked Rachel to the elevator and headed down to the street. "Have fun."

Rachel snorted. "Likely not, but thank you." She reached over and hugged the other woman. "You've been a lifesaver tonight. I'm definitely recommending a Christmas bonus from this night alone if nothing else."

"It's part of the job," she shrugged and hugged back awkwardly before opening the car door. "Later," she said, before closing it and heading towards the subway.

"Good night, Santana," Rachel waved at her from the car before giving directions to the driver and sitting back.


	4. Chapter 4

While she loved the bright lights and fame boosting opportunities of gala nights, Rachel loathed the morning after. Every time it was hell pushing herself up out of bed and stumbling to the shower to try and knock some of the deathly ache from her bones. Not to mention the thick, gummy taste filling her mouth. Post gala mornings were the only times she skipped her early morning work out in favor of a long shower and lingering in bed and over breakfast.

She was in the shower when her phone buzzed where she'd dropped it when she finally stumbled into her apartment at one that morning. The light signaling a new text blinked, but she never noticed it or the text saying that Santana was on her way to pick her up for the photoshoot that she'd completely forgotten about. She gargled with the water coming out of the shower head, spitting it disgustedly onto the shower floor as she tiredly scrubbed at her hair.

Santana unlocked Rachel's apartment door and headed inside. She shook her head as she placed the tray of coffee and bagels on the counter. The faint sounds of the shower running from the bathroom indicated that Rachel was indeed awake, so Santana headed into the bedroom and carefully picked up and hung the dress that was haphazardly flung against the desk chair.

She picked up the random articles of clothing and put them in the hamper before grabbing yoga pants and a thermal out for Rachel to wear. She pulled out some undergarments and threw them on top of the clothing. "Fucking Berry," Santana grumbled, not loving the fact she had to wait on the girl she once tormented.

Yawning as she got out of the shower, unaware of her visitor, Rachel wrapped her hair up in a towel after drying off and padded out to the bedroom, yawning and rubbing at her eyes. When she saw someone moving about in her room she shrieked and threw herself back into the bathroom, slamming the door. "Oh my God! Who's in here?!"

"Jesus calm down!" Santana called out, as she came around the corner. "It's just me."

"For Barbra's sake, Santana!" Rachel gasped as she pushed the door back open and creeped back out, now dressed far more modestly in a robe, "You scared the dickens out of me! You should warn a person before you show up. I thought you were some sort of burglar or rapist or some kind of serial killer come to cut of my stellar ascent to Broadway short."

"Dude, you gave me a key and I texted you an hour ago," she pointed out as she grabbed the phone that was kicked to the floor.

"As you'll see, I didn't get it and I know I gave you a key," she huffed as she flounced over to grab some clothes, stopping when she noticed the chaos she'd left last night was gone. "Santana, I believe I told you that you're not my maid..."

"It's not that bad." Santana said as she put the dry cleaning aside. "It's not a big deal, I tripped over your thong and got grossed out so I kicked it in the hamper. Plus, I'm used to picking clothing off the ground."

"I _do_ clean up after myself you know," she groused, stripping off her robe and starting to pull her underthings on. "Just because you're only in here on days when I am completely stressed by things that are not the order of my living space, doesn't mean I'm not ordinarily exceptionally tidy."

"I'm not saying your not," Santana countered as she walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. "I got you breakfast!" She called back as she unwrapped the bagel for Rachel and pulled out the tofu cream cheese and a small package of peanut putter, not knowing her preference. She unwrapped her own bagel and finished fixing her coffee before sitting down and waiting for Rachel to come out.

Rachel came out, yawning as she ran a hand through her hair and dropped into a chair across from Santana after grabbing a bottle of orange juice and tub of Earth Balance spread. "Thanks for breakfast. Want some orange juice? It's fresh."

"Nah. I'm good," she said as she took a long drink of her black coffee. "I didn't know if you preferred tofu cream cheese, peanut butter or that..." She motioned to the tub and shrugged, "How was the party last night?"

"It's fine," Rachel waved her off, preparing her bagel with a yawn. "The party was excessively long and the only things approaching vegan were alcoholic. A number of producers don't seem to grasp the concept of no, I won't engage in sexual activities with them in order to procure a role in their stageplay.."

"Well that's unfortunate." She shrugged, taking a bite of her bagel. "Fucking your way to the top is overrated, trust me." She said, "But I guess that might be how this acting thing works... I don't know." She said, "I'm gonna assume that since you're a break out star that you are not looking to just tell someone off and say you're gay or bi or whatever."

"I'm open minded. I dislike labels," she gestured with her bagel, "but that's _not_ how it works. And anyone who is willing to debase themselves by trading sexual favors for roles is a fool and likely a poor actress as well. I have no patience for that sort of behaviour. Nor for the men who seem to think the only way for a woman to audition a role is by spreading her legs on a casting couch."

"This is true," Santana remarked. "And you are not a poor actress so keep the legs closed," she said as she continued eating in silence. After she was finished she stood up and cleaned her spot and checked her phone. "We gotta bounce in a moment. Do you need anything for the shoot?"

She shook her head, "I don't think so." Standing, she cleaned her own things up and put the perishable items away in her fridge. "Are we ready then?"

"Do you want me to get an Advil for you?" Santana asked as she handed Rachel a gatorade and shrugged, "Drink you'll feel better."

"No, I'm fine," Rachel shook her head. "I haven't gone hangover worthy with alcohol since junior year of high school. Let's just go get this photoshoot done so I can catch up on my sleep." She yawned, grabbing her jacket and pulling it on.

"No problem." Santana said as she threw on her coat and followed Rachel down to the street. She hailed a taxi and slid in after her employer, "So it's gonna be a tasteful shoot. A few evening things then a couple cute outfits." She showed her the photos, "Are they okay for you?"

"That's fine," Rachel yawned, leaning against the car door and not even looking at the photos, "I'm sure you and Quinn worked everything out tastefully."

Santana just shook her head and put the photos away and watched out the window as they drove to the location. She took out her phone and texted Rita to check on her daughter and smiled when a picture came through of Brooklyn and Pedro, Rita's grandson, curled up next to his legos and the family cat sleeping.

* * *

Rachel's tired and distracted mood had not much improved by the time she got to the photoshoot. When she found out the stylist that had ruined her dress for the previous night was there, she'd glared until they found someone else. "Seriously, is there something wrong that my saying I won't work with someone any more because of their destructive clumsiness isn't enough to keeping from having to work with them again?" she growled, flopping down into the hair as the photographer's staff tried to find another hair stylist.

"Maybe it was an accident." Santana said as she looked up from the planner. "But we can ask him to not be around if it pleases you... though you're likely to get a reputation as a diva.. and from people you didn't know in high school."

"Fine," she huffed, "I don't want people around me who don't know enough about their surroundings to not destroy things. If that makes me a diva, then I'll be a damn diva. I can't afford to always replace things the people around me break."

"Look, he's paying for the dress to get fixed!" Santana said sternly, "Just chill the fuck down, I understand you're tired but just get dressed and take your pictures."

"This is not me being irate, Santana," Rachel snapped, heaving herself up out of the chair to storm over to the rack that had been wheeled in and picking an evening gown.

"Sure..." Santana rolled her eyes and kept recording dates into her calender. "Just do your photos so you can go home."

"That is what I am _attempting_ to do if the people around me will stop being _incompetent_ ," she pointed out, yanking off her close and wrestling the evening gown on.

Santana raised her eyebrow. "You bests be not referring to me," She said as she got up and moved over to help Rachel into the dress before she tore it.

"No," she mumbled, the dress muffling her voice, "just this idiotic crew."

Santana pulled the dress over her head and rolled her eyes. "Well the crew will make this photoshoot or break it, so be nice to them or they'll make you look like a drag queen."

Rachel shrugged, wiggling the tight dress down over her hips. "Wouldn't be the first time I've been considered a drag queen," she pointed out.

"Yeah well," Santana shrugged, "you don't wanna be one in one of your first major shoots, so just suck your ego up."

"This is not about my _ego_ , Santana!" she snapped, glaring at the taller woman. "This is about wanting quality people around me!"

"Can you just stop bitching for five minutes? Fuck!" Santana exclaimed.

"I am _not_ ," she reached out and poked Santana in the chest, glaring at her, " _bitching_ , Santana!" Spinning on one heel, she stomped over to the shoes and toed a pair on before heading out to the set.

Santana just followed and hoped that she didn't decide to terrorize the staff of the shoot anymore.

* * *

Rachel smiled at the photographer. "Where do you want me, John?" she asked, putting on her most charming expression.

The man settled his heavy camera against his chest and grinned at her. "Hi, Rachel, over here please. Can you stretch out on this chaise for me?"

"Like this?" she smiled up at him, sprawling out like she was a fifties pin-up model.

"Perfect. You're a babe," he smirked, stepping back and raising his camera to his eyes, beginning the shoot. "Okay, now lift your leg... perfect!"

Santana watched, her eye fixating for any lingering hints of over-sexualization Rachel's photos. She leaned against the wall, rolling her neck as she watched the annoying actress play up her looks.

* * *

Everything was going fine until one of the assistants had the bright idea to make a beach scene "more realistic" by throwing a bucket of water over a beginning to look tired Rachel. The pint-sized diva shot to her feet sputtering and outraged, her outfit plastered to her upper body. She glared at the smirking assistant, stalking forward.

"What in the name of _Barbra_ were you _thinking_ , you incompetent, simpering little _twit_!"

"Aw, shit." Santana jumped up and got ready to intervene the ensuing riot that was about to start.

"Get out of my _way_ , Santana," Rachel barked, shoving at her and trying to get at the assistant who was starting to look nervous. "That little harridan had the _audacity_ to throw a bucket of _water_ in my _face_ without _any_ warning and I have every intention to teach her the error of her ways!"

"Rachel, baby, come on," John tried placating, but moved his cameras to a safer spot just in case. "Calm down, alright?"

"I'll calm down after I teach her what happens when you throw things at people!"

"Shut up, _John_!" Santana yelled, "This was not part of the agreement! Back the fuck up and let me deal with her." She grabbed Rachel's arm and held her tightly. "Seriously, why don't you warn someone that you're gonna throw water on them!" she snapped at the assistant. "Fucking idiots," she mumbled as she tried to pull Rachel away. "We're done. She's changing and she's out of here."

"The contract's for three more outfit changes, Ms Lopez," John frowned. "She has an obligation to stay and finish this shoot."

"Like hell I do!" Rachel snapped, still glaring at the assistant who'd backed up towards John. "I didn't agree to be _assaulted_ by your staff in any damn contract!"

"Rachel, shut up," Santana demanded. "Look, you dumped water on her. I have a clause in her contract that says if she's uncomfortable or protests any of the layouts she can walk. You obviously made her uncomfortable and we are going to go."

"Don't make me get security involved, Ms Lopez," John growled threateningly, only to find himself with a face full of sopping wet blouse.

" _Fuck_ your security and your contract," Rachel sneered, "I'm not working with you again. And once it gets out how you treat people, no one else will _either_!" Pivoting on her heel, she stomped back towards the dressing room to get out of the wet clothing and into her own things to leave.

"John, you're a fucking amateur," Santnaa spat. "You will not get paid and I will get the agency to sue you if you use any of the photos you took. If your magazine wants to give me a real photographer and crew we can talk again. You'll be hearing from Ms. Fabray and the agency." Santana hauled off and headed back to find Rachel in the back room. "Rachel, get changed I'm gonna take you back home and go talk to Quinn."

"I didn't even want to _do_ this damn shoot," Rachel snarled, hurling the clothes she was ripping off at the rack. "Quinn said it'd be good for my image, so I said okay. Now I'm soaking wet and have been treated like a damn guinea pig for some beginner's photo spread. If this is what it takes to have a _good_ image, I'd prefer a bad one!"

"Look, Quinn didn't know." Santana said as she handed Rachel her clothing. "Here, dry off." She handed her a towel and sighed. "I didn't know they would do that or I wouldn't have signed off on it."

"It was completely unprofessional is what it was!" Rachel roughly toweled her hair somewhat dry before yanking her clothes on. "I swear to Barbra, if I see that insufferable little idiot again, I am going to slap her!"

"I'm gonna slap you if you don't freaking leave it alone. You get to go, stop dwelling on it." Santana groaned as she gathered their things.

"You're not the one having to go out in a New York winter with wet hair, Santana!" Rachel mumbled at her through the towel over her head. "If I get sick, I'm suing her for endangering my livelihood."

"God, wear a hat!" Santana exclaimed, "Or put your hood on, you're going from the building to a taxi to your apartment. You won't die."

"Are you absolutely, positively _certain_ about that, Santana?" Rachel narrowed her eyes at the other woman, challenging her logic. "I mean, _everyone_ knows going out in the cold with wet hair makes you sick."

"Wow... you're really stupid sometimes." Santana scoffed, obviously getting annoyed.

"What's stupid about being concerned about my health?" she glared at Santana. "Perhaps I'm still just an obnoxious little troll to you, but people _do_ care about me, Santana. They'd be upset if _I_ got sick," her voice raised to a yell, obviously implying that wouldn't be the case for Santana. She was angry, exhausted and uncomfortable and unfortunately, Santana was well within reach of her lashing out.

On a gut reaction, Santana hauled off and slapped the smaller girl. "Don't fucking yell at me when I'm doing the best I can to make sure that you're not in some BSDM photos!" she snarled. "Just shut up, okay?"

Rachel cupped her slapped cheek and stared at Santana in shock. "You... you _slapped_ me," she whispered, unable to believe it. "You... you actually slapped me. You never touched me in high school..."

Santana instantly felt bad. "I'm..." She swallowed and reached over to check Rachel's cheek. "I shouldn't have done that." She looked down, thinking she was going to lose her job.

Rachel let out a half-hearted laugh, going to look in the mirror. "Doesn't look bad," she shrugged, "but I'll ice it when I get home just in case." She bit her lip and looked back over her shoulder. "You know... Quinn's the only other person who's ever really slapped me."

"She's whacked me a few times too. Hurts like a bitch." Santana said, "I'm sorry... you just wouldn't stop... I'll never do that again."

She shrugged, shaking it off. "If I deserve it, then I deserve it. As I told Quinn when she slapped me, I appreciate the drama of the moment. That's not to say I _enjoy_ it, but I'm not angry. It's not likely there'll be any lasting damage."

"Yeah... I'm trying to not be violent, so..." She shrugged, "Can we bounce now?"

"Certainly." Grabbing her bag and shrugging into her coat, Rachel headed for the door. "Perhaps you'd consider having lunch with me? I know a little noodle shop near here. You could take a treat home for Brooklyn."

"Sure you're not going to die of damp hair?" Santana teased as she glared at the photographer and opened the door and headed outside.

"Ha ha," Rachel deadpanned as she pulled a hat out of her bag and shoved it on her head before flicking the hood of her jacket up over it. "Now are you going to have lunch with me or not?"

"Yeah yeah, sure," Santana said as she pulled her beat up leather jacket tighter around her body.

"Come on, it's just down the block. Not far at all," Rachel smiled up at her before hustling down the sidewalk at a brisk New York pace before tugging Santana into a small restaurant. "Order what you want, okay? My treat," she offered, putting in her own order for _nameko soba_.

Santana ordered a bowl of veggie pho and leaned against the wall. "Don't go being nice to me because I hit you. I don't really care that you were being a bitch."

"Don't be stupid, Santana." Rachel rolled her eyes. "I'm buying you lunch. I do that, remember? I do want to apologize for one thing though." She bit her lip and sighed. "I shouldn't have implied no one would care if you got sick. Because it's a lie. I'd care. Quinn would care. And of course, your daughter would. I never should have said anything to make it seem like that wasn't true."

"Well it's a good thing I don't get sick," Santana said with a smirk. "But Brooklyn wouldn't care because I'd have to stay home with her."

Rachel gave Santana the sort of look a librarian would be proud of. "She'd care if her mom was sick, Santana. Don't be silly." The noodles came up and Rachel took the tray they were on and headed for a table. "Here. Careful, it's hot but delicious."

Santana grabbed some lime and chilies, "She would, but that would mean she would bring me orange juice and cuddle the crap out of me." She smiled before sitting down. "She likes to mimic what I do when she's sick."

"She sounds adorable." Rachel smiled before slurping up a helping of noodles, chewing and swallowing with a pleased sigh. "I've decided. You're off on Christmas and your daughter's birthday. It seems only right."

"Luckily, there like the same week so it's all good." Santana said, as took ate some of her soup. "December 28th." She explained, "not too long after yours, right?"

"Mine's on the nineteenth, so yes, not too much longer. You had a Christmas baby," Rachel smiled, amused by the novelty of Brooklyn's birthday. "Seems like a nice present for you, though I'm sure she was a pain to get," she teased.

"Yep, once she was here everyone was good. The procuring, growing and producing her is another story." She shrugged, "Whatever," she said before eating some more of her food.

"Still a good gift," she pointed out, "and no one ever said that children were easy. Though I believe I've heard of plenty of quotes stating that they're worth the effort. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah." Santana said between slurps of broth. "I think I'll keep her around," she teased.

Rachel laughed softly. "Good to know." She ate quietly for a bit before glancing over at Santana and chewing on her lip in thought. "Santana... I know we weren't exactly friends in high school, but... for what it's worth, I do wish I could have been there for you when she was born. No one should have to bring their child into the world alone and I'm sorry you had to."

"Wasn't alone." Santana shrugged. "Had what felt like forty doctors and nurses in the room," she said using her chopsticks to pick up noodles. "But, like... I mean it was my choice to leave and Brooklyn and I are doing alright. I get what you're saying but I would have been overwhelmed if it was like Beth's birth for me. I needed to grow up and do shit on my own. Without my family, without Q, without..." she was going to say Brittany but thought better of it, "anyone."

"I understand." She nodded, eating her noodles. "Still, if you need any help for some reason, you do have friends, Santana. We weren't nearly good enough ones in high school - letting Finn do what he did to you is something I can never really forgive myself for - but perhaps as adults we could change things for a more positive note?"

"Sure, but are you talking about me fucking him or him outing me to the state?" She raised her eyebrow curiously. "Cause one of those was my fault."

"I was _referring_ to his outing you," Rachel cocked a brow at her, "as I was _assuming_ the former was consensual."

"Sadly, yes." She shrugged. "It's fine. I don't really care about what he did... Despite the fact ya'll ignored the fact he outed me to the world when I wasn't ready and he acted like a martyr about it and the fact that no one cared about me but fuck when Korofsky tried to off himself ya'll ran to his side and acted like his best friend..."

"I did just say I'm never going to forgive myself for letting him get away with that, didn't I?" Rachel arched a brow of her own. "I know it wasn't right and nothing I say now will possibly forgive that I didn't even say anything to him. I know that, Santana. It was... inexcusable."

"Don't worry about it, Rachel." She sighed. "It was a long time ago and it's not important anymore." She looked over at the other woman, "Seriously, I'm over it and you should be too."

"Still I was fairly awful to you in high school." She shrugged and slurped up some more of her noodles.

"Berry," she said sternly, "this is the last time I really want to talk about high school okay? I was awful to you, too. So, let's move the fuck on."

Rachel jerked, startled by Santana's tone. "Oh, um... okay. Sorry."

Santana took a steady breath. "Yeah... I just try to forget it, okay?" she said as she finished her soup and stood up. "You should get home and sleep. I'll see you bright and early on Monday?"

"Yes, of course." Rachel smiled wanly. "Enjoy your Sunday with Brooklyn. I'll do my best not to trouble you."

"You have my number, just call if you need me," she said, before fixing her scarf around her neck. "See ya," she added as she slipped out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

The morning had been hell. Brooklyn had been up all night, so in turn Santana had been awake as well. When the young mother dropped her still small daughter who was napping on her shoulder off with Rita still dressed in the outfit she had been put in after the bath she took at 3:00am. She wore leggings with mismatched socks and a old t-shirt of Santana's from high school that nearly swallowed her tiny frame. Santana laid the girl down on the couch and kissed her head, her heart breaking as she walked out of the door.

When she got to work, she kept her phone in her hand, waiting to see if she would have to go pick up Brooklyn if she started to really feel bad. She just had the sniffles when Santana dropped her off, but she knew that the girl's cold could easily turn into something more uncomfortable.

Rachel noticed her distraction, but didn't comment on it since she was too busy learning a dialogue change the writer had thrown at them. The more changes the duo helming the production threw at them, the more she wondered if maybe Quinn had been right to suggest staying with the fairly successful off-Broadway show instead of taking the lead with the Broadway production. She was in the midst of arguing about a particular change the writer was insisting on as "more evocative", when she heard the familiar strain of _You are My Sunshine_ buzz from Santana's phone. Knowing that Santana told her daughter not to call unless it was an emergency, she glanced over worriedly.

After a hushed conversation, Santana bolted out of the theatre. She exited out onto the street and looked around furiously. She saw Rita holding a little bundle wrapped up in a black blanket, Santana quickly moved to them and took her daughter. "I'm so sorry, Rita. Thank you for bringing her."

"No problem." Rita said, running her hand over Brooklyn's back. "She wouldn't stop crying. I gave her some of the baby cold medication you brought with her." She remarked as she helped the little pink backpack on to Santana's shoulder. "But she really just wanted you."

"That's okay." Santana cooed as she kissed her feverish baby's head. "I got her. Thanks so much." She said before Rita nodded and headed away. Santana ducked into the foyer of the theatre and hugged her daughter tightly. "I'm sorry, baby. Mommy has you now." Brooklyn just nodded weakly and snuggled closer.

After getting the little girl's coat off and wrapping her back up in the blanket Santana headed back into the theatre. She plopped half way towards the stage and cuddled her sick daughter.

The director looked like he wanted to kick her out, scowling out into the darkness of the audience area, but Rachel tightened her lips and shook her head sharply. Hearing a tiny cough from the seats, she glanced worriedly out at where Santana sat with her little girl.

"Rachel, honestly, we can't do our work with a kid spreading germs all over the theater," Pete, the writer sighed.

"She's my assistant, Pete," Rachel glowered at him, "I need her here and her child is sick. What do you want me to do, tell her to throw her daughter into the street? It's miserable out there and I'll do no such thing. Stop worrying about the fact that _my_ assistant is being a good parent and _start_ worrying about the fact that this change you're insisting on makes no sense at all."

Eddie, the director, shook his head, "She's going to be a distraction making noise out there in the audience."

Rolling her eyes, Rachel sighed, "Fine. Jimmy!"

The director's assistant ran over. "Yes, Ms. Berry?"

"Do me a favor." She pulled the key to her dressing room out of her pocket and handed it to him, "Go and get the two twenties out of my wallet in my purse and run down to the CVS on the corner to get some Pedialyte or something to help a sick child who's coughing. Then take the key to my assistant and tell her to use my dressing room instead of sitting in the cold audience seating with her daughter. You can keep the change as a tip."

"Thanks, Ms Berry!" He grinned at her then ran off.

"There. Does that solve your problem?" She raised a challenging brow at them. Grudgingly, they nodded. "Then let's get back to work, shall we?"

Santana closed her eyes and kept the blanket up over the little girl's head and she rocked her against her chest. She watched as Rachel ordered the intern out to get something and sighed, closing her eyes and kissing her kid's temple.

Jimmy came slipping in the back door of the audience area carrying a white CVS bag about a half hour later. Creeping quietly as he could down the aisle towards Santana, he crouched beside her and looked up with a little smile. "Hi, Ms. Lopez," he held out the bag, "Ms Berry asked me to get this for your little one and to give you this," he handed her the key. "She says to use her dressing room to hide out in cause Mr Johnson and Mr Moore are complaining about you being in the audience. Plus it's, like, warmer or something which has gotta be good for the kid, right?"

"Thanks, Jimmy," she said softly as she stood up and took the bag from the other assistant. "If she needs me I'll be in there." She whispered and hiked Brooklyn up on her hip and headed to the dressing room.

She unlocked the door and sat down on Rachel's small couch and she looked in the bag. She looked at the drink and smiled before opening the cap and helping Brooklyn take a sip out of the bottle. "Better?" she asked her pale faced daughter. "Baby, let's lay down, okay? Mommy'll keep you warm," she said softly as she laid back and settled Brooklyn on her stomach and wrapped her arms around the girl. "Close your eyes."

Brooklyn whimpered softly, snuggling into her mom's chest. "Hot, Mommy," she mumbled, a tiny fist curling in the woman's blouse.

Santana pushed the blanket down to just cover her butt and legs. "Better?" she asked as she pushed the girl's hair back. "You have a fever, beautiful."

She nodded, her skin warm, but not damp as the fever hadn't broke yet. "Can I stay with you today, Mommy?"

"Yeah, Mommy's sorry that she left you with Ms. Rita," she whispered, obviously regretting that decision. She leaned back and rested the girl back down. "Want some more juice?"

Brooklyn nodded. "Yes, please, Mommy. Thirsty."

She sat them up and reached down and smiled when she saw a _Princess Jasmine_ sippy cup in the bag. "Look, baby. Jasmine," she said as she unscrewed it and filled it with the drink. She put the top on the cup and handed it to her. "Are you hungry? I have your Cheerios in the bag."

"Uh-uh," she whispered, shaking her head and hugging the cup to her chest. "Is my cup?"

"Yes, beautiful." She smiled and kissed the girl's head. "It's all yours. Mommy will get you sherbet on the way home too and you can sleep with me tonight okay?" She said, "Mommy hates when you don't feel good."

"I know," she mumbled, sipping at the cup. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I don't like being icky."

"Don't be sorry, Brooklyn. Never be sorry for how you feel, remember?" she reminded her. "It just makes me worry. It's my job as a mom." She smiled and wrapped her arms around the girl.

"I'm glad I could come be with you," she whispered, snuggling her hot little body against her mom. "You work here?"

"I do. They do plays here," she said as she wrapped the blanket around her shoulders when she felt a shiver from her girl. "You might see two people Mommy used to know when she was in high school," she said softly, knowing that there was no way that she was going to get away from Rachel and Quinn now. "Rachel sings and acts like they do in the movies."

"Really?" Brooklyn sounded tired but interested. "She sing pretty like you, Mommy?"

"Prettier, Brooke." She smiled. "She's famous. I'm just a mom."

The little girl shook her head. "Uh-uh. Nobody sings prettier than you. Not even on tv."

"Thank you, baby." She smiled and kissed her daughter's nose. "Are you sleepy? Do you want me to see if I can get Rachel's computer to play a movie for you?"

Brooklyn brightened slightly. "We can watch a movie?"

"Mmhmm," she said softly as she reached over to the coffee table and tapped the silver laptop on. She typed _Barbra_ in the password box and it came to life. She looked in the girl's iTunes and smiled when she found the perfect movie. Clicking on _The Wizard of Oz_ , she wrapped Brooklyn back up in the blanket and her arms.

"Cowardly Lion?" she asked sleepily, curling up on her mom's chest and blinking at the screen.

"Mmhmm," she replied and rubbed Brooklyn's back. "Just relax, baby. Mommy is here okay?"

"This work is nice," she mumbled, watching the black and white production turn technicolor as Dorothy entered Oz. "Stay here, okay, Mommy?"

"Until it's going home time," she said as she snuggled in and kissed the girl's crown as they watched the movie.

* * *

A couple hours later, there was a soft knock on the door before it creaked open and Rachel poked her head in. "Santana?" she called softly, not wanting to wake Brooklyn if she was sleeping.

Santana was asleep her arms loosely wrapped around Brooklyn, who had somehow turned and was facing her mom and clinging to her. Random music from her iTunes was playing softly in the background as the mother and daughter napped on the couch.

"Santana?" Rachel called a little louder, not wanting to intrude on the moment. "Is it okay if I come in?"

The mother's eyes lazily opened. "Hey," she rasped out. "It's your dressing room," she said as she rubbed her eyes and put her hands back around Brooklyn's body.

"Yes, but she's your ill child and people take precedence over things." Rachel smiled softly as she slipped into the room, closing the door behind her to shut out the noise from the stage. "Is she okay?"

"Just a cold," Santana said as she looked up. "Thanks for the juice and stuff for her... and we jacked your computer to watch _The Wizard of Oz_."

"That's fine." Rachel sat down at her dressing table, watching them for a moment. "I'm glad she's okay, Santana. I admit, I was worried when I saw you run out like you did."

"She spiked a fever. She didn't have one this morning... but she's sick and I don't like it when my kid's not feeling good," Santana explained as she ran her fingers through the girl's hair.

"Understandable." Rachel nodded. "Do you need to take a couple of days to care for her? I'm going to be stuck here anyway, so there shouldn't be any urgent need of your presence..."

"I'd love it if I can work from home..." she said softly. "Rita won't babysit when she's sick. She's got her grandkids and then they'll all get sick... I just have no one else to watch her."

"If you do need to come in, just bring her, okay?" Rachel looked worried. "I know this isn't optimal and a theater certainly isn't the best place for a child, but do what you need to do, alright? Worse case scenario, you can use my apartment as an in between. It's not that far from here after all."

"Yeah..." Santana said distractedly as Brooklyn started to wiggle and push the blanket off her shoulders. "She hates being hot," she remarked as she pulled the shirt off her clammy back and fanned it out.

"Seems that way." She regarded them for a moment. "Might a Popsicle help? Or some sort of ice cream or sherbet? I could probably find some..."

"Nah, I'll get her some. We have a routine. She has to take her medicine then she gets treats when she's sick," Santana said as Brooklyn tilted her head up and reached out her arms. Santana chuckled. "Don't flail, baby, I'm here," she said as she kissed her daughter's nose.

"Hi, Brooklyn," Rachel called softly, smiling gently and waving from her seat across the room. "I'm Rachel. I'm a friend," she glanced at Santana, worried about using the wrong word, "of your mom's."

The groggy child waved shyly and sucked on her thumb as she snuggled closer to Santana. "She's shy," Santana said softly as she watched Rachel for any reaction about the appearance of her child. She was aware of the fact that Brooklyn's features were blatant explanations of her parentage.

Rachel smiled at the little girl, noticing the obvious Asian heritage, but - unlike Quinn - not immediately willing to jump to their small group of associates to assume her parentage. "She's cute," she murmured.

"She is. She's also very smart," Santana said, preferring to complement her daughter's gifts rather than her features. Brooklyn's little hands went up and tangled in Santana's hair and draped it over her shoulders once she managed to turn around on her mom's lap to face Rachel.

"I bet," Rachel smirked at her mom, "I remember fighting with you for top of the class in grade school until Quinn moved to town and made the struggle to be number one even more difficult."

"This is true," Santana said as she played with Brooklyn's hands. "She normally doesn't wear things that make her look like a homeless baby," She said awkwardly realizing what the girl was wearing. "She decided to steal my shirt this morning at the butt crack of dawn and not take it off."

She laughed. "Santana, she's a sick little girl. Do you really think I'm judging her fashion sense? Besides," she shrugged, "it's better than some of the outfits my dads dressed me in when I was her age. Or some of the ones they helped me with as a teenager," she rolled her eyes. "Do you remember when they tried to help me make a Gaga-esque costume and just stapled Beanie Babies all over a dress?"

"She'd wear it... or play with it." Santana chuckled.

"Staple babies?" Brooklyn asked softly looking up at her mother scared. "Hurts them."

"No, babe. Not babies, Beanie Babies, they're toys not real," she explained, Brooklyn nodded and reached for her cup then tiredly flopped back against her mom.

"Like this," Rachel explained, reaching into her dressing table's drawer and pulling out a sad looking green frog Beanie Baby and tossing it to Santana. "Just a little toy. They were popular when your mom and I were kids."

"Oh." Brooklyn nodded, then giggled when Santana made it press kisses to her neck and face. "Mommy! Tickles!" She laughed before coughing and pouting. "Froggy made me cough."

"I'm sure he's terribly sad about that." Rachel smiled softly, watching Santana play with her child and realizing how much the other woman really had grown up. "If you'd like, you can keep him. I've got a bunch of them at home that I don't play with nearly enough."

"Really!" Brooklyn gave her a smile. "Mommy! I gots a cup and a froggy in one day!" She looked concerned for a moment. "Is it my birthday? Don't want to be sick on my birthday."

"No, Brooke. Your birthday is after Christmas, remember?" Santana said. "Today, Miss Rachel is being very nice to you so what do you say?"

"Thank you, Miss Rachel," Brooklyn said softly as she hugged her frog.

Rachel winced, but smiled. "Thanks for making me sound like a kindergarten teacher... or maybe just an old spinster, Santana. I just don't like it when little kids are sick, so I like to give them presents to make them smile when they are. Okay, Brooklyn?"

"Thank you," she said again and snuggled back into her mother's arms.

"Teaching her respect," Santana said. "And not to expect gifts," she added as she tapped her kid's head and she nodded, "but thanks."

Rachel shrugged. "It's not like I have any little siblings or nieces or nephews around. I don't really know how to react around small children, so I apologize if I step out of line. I'll try and improve."

"You're not," Santana said, just not used to getting things from people. "I'm not used to having people around either... It's been just us."

She held up her hands in a placating gesture, though she wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to be placating. "I understand. I think. I'll try to limit my intrusion in your life if that's what you want. However, despite the fact that _technically_ I'm your boss, I would like to consider us friends, Santana."

"We are," she said softly. "I... it's just a lot right now and I don't think I want to deal with the questions that will come up." She looked down her daughter who was nodding off again.

"What questions?" Her brow furrowed as she tried to think of some. "You don't think people will infer that we're _dating_ or something will you? I mean, it's fairly well known that you're my assistant. We're friends, Santana. That just means I'm here for you if you need me." She smirked, giving a short laugh. "Please don't be as stubborn as Quinn was in high school. I'm not entirely sure I want to spend four years chasing you and offering you my support at every turn."

"No, I'm not worried about _that_ ," Santana chuckled, "but I'm also not going to need to be chased. I'm a grown assed person and I do work for you so it's kosher to be friends."

"Excellent!" Rachel actually clapped excitedly. "Does that mean I can invite you and Brooklyn to my annual Christmas Eve viewing of _It's A Wonderful Life_ and _Miracle on 34th St_ with Quinn and I?"

"Uh." Santana got nervous knowing what Quinn's reaction to her daughter will be. "Um... sure I guess, but Brooke might insist on Rudolph too..."

"Red nosed," she mumbled in her sleep causing Santana to give a genuine smile of absolute love at her baby.

"Oh! I love that film! The claymation version, right? With Hermey the elf who wants to be a dentist?" She smiled. "I'd be more than happy to add that to the line up, though Quinn might insist on not coming until after it's over. Three movies might be a bit much for her. She's still not quite up to extended viewings."

"I like the gay elf, she likes the bumble." Santana said, "Our tree has a bumble toy putting the star up on top."

She laughed. "Oh, that's so adorable. I don't put up a tree anymore since Quinn found her own place, but I do decorate a little and I put up the menorah of course."

"Cool." She nodded, frowning when Brooklyn has a coughing fit. "I need to take her home," Santana explained gathering their things. "I'm sorry, but I'll get your appointments booked for your days off," she said as she bundled her daughter back up and in the blanket.

"Santana, don't worry about it." Rachel smiled at her, grabbing her purse. "I'm sure if anything really urgent was coming up, Quinn would have told me. Everything else can wait, okay? Just take care of your little girl and it'll be fine. Come on. We can share a cab. There's no reason you should expose her to the germ tubes of the subway when I'm heading pretty much in the same direction, right?"

"We live in Harlem," Santana pointed out. "You sure you wanna share?" she asked as she grabbed the girl's bag and put the medication, cup and frog inside.

"Yes." Rachel smirked. "You know where I live after all. Only fair to return the favor, don't you think? Besides, I'd feel better knowing she didn't have to ride on the subway while ill."

"Alright fine," Santana relented, not really wanting visitors to her place. She carried her daughter out and waited for Rachel to gather her things before heading to the doors.

"Don't be such a worrywart, Santana." Rachel rolled her eyes, shrugging her coat on and sliding her laptop into it's carrying case, which she slipped over her shoulder. "It's not like I'm planning on coming inside." She headed for the door, pressing the speed dial for the cab service on her phone and calling for a cab to Harlem and then back to her own apartment.

"I know..." she said rubbing her daughter's back when she protested the movement. "We're heading home, baby."

"Sleeps? Sherbet and sleeps?" Brooklyn asked.

"Sherbet and sleeps," Santana assured her.

"Rachel!" Quinn's harried voice caught them as they stepped out the door, "I'm so glad I caught you! I just got an offer for a TV ad spot but you weren't answering your phone and - oh my god, Santana, is that your baby girl? What's she doing here at the theater?"

Santana froze and clutched her daughter. "She's sick, I'm taking her home," Santana said quickly. "Rachel, talk to Quinn and call later and let me know if I can help." She wanted to get away as quick as she could, knowing Quinn would know as soon as she looked at Brooklyn who her father was.

Rachel looked conflicted for a moment, then sighed and waved at the cab coming up. "Take the cab, Santana. I'll cover the fare, don't worry about it."

"Santana," Quinn caught her lip between her teeth, "you don't have to run off just because I'm here, do you?" She looked almost hurt by how quickly her old friend was moving to keep her child away from her.

"Q-quinn." Santana stumbled, "it's not... she's just sick and cranky."

"Quinn, it's fine. She really is sick," Rachel reassured her. "I'm sure you'll be able to meet her some other time." She smiled at Santana as she caught Quinn's arm, leading her back inside, "Take care of her, okay?"

"She's my world," Santana said as they headed out the doors. Brooklyn looked up and waved goodbye to the women as they left.

Quinn's eyes widened in shock as she recognized certain features. "Oh... my God, Rachel. I know why Santana took off."

"Quinn, please don't start this again," Rachel sighed, heading back to her dressing room.

"No, seriously! Brooklyn looks like _Mike_!" A hand covered pale lips, "Oh my gosh, Mike _cheated_ , Rachel!"

"Quinn," Rachel's tone was sharp as she turned to look at her, "don't even speculate about things of that nature! Mike is happily married to Tina. I don't think he'd ever cheat on her. Why would you even _think_ something like that?"

"Because how many Asian guys went to our school? How many did San know? Jesus, Rach, how can you not see it!" Quinn exclaimed, "She's like a little brown Mike!"

"Honestly, why does it have to be someone from our school?" Rachel asked curiously. "We don't know the circumstances of Brooklyn's conception. Should we really be speculating in a fashion that could _destroy_ a happy marriage?"

"I'm worried that Mike has no idea! That Santana trusted him and they slept together and he denied the kid. That she's been _alone_ for years because if this. That she ran because she knew everyone would be on his side!"

"Sweet _Barbra_ , Quinn!" Rachel stared at her in shock, "You're acting like Mike _raped_ her or something! Cut it out! We don't know if he's her dad or not and you shouldn't go around acting like he is until you _do_ know. What are you going to do? _Call_ him and tell him _oh hey, I just met Santana's daughter and I think she's yours_?"

"No, I'm gonna kick him in the nuts! I'm so fucking tired of guys not taking responsibility for their kids, alright? Puck didn't until it was too late... Mike hasn't at all; if he is her father." Quinn sighed. "I'm just worried about Santana, okay?"

"I understand your worry, but don't take it out on Mike." Rachel's lips thinned as she reached over to run a hand over her friend's shoulder. "And remember, I've talked to Noah and I know full well that you refused his offers to take responsibility until much later. Yes, they were meager, but he did try, which is more than you can say for the average fifteen year old boy. Recall that you had to threaten Finn before he'd find a job and he was under the impression that Beth was his. And even if Mike _is_ the father," she shrugged, indicating that she wasn't at all sure about that, "have you considered that perhaps Santana doesn't _want_ him having a part in her life? What I'm trying to say here, Quinn, is please stop making assumptions. You'll just damage your friendship with Santana if you do."

Quinn brushed Rachel's hand off her shoulder, "Rachel, I know you're his friend... but if you think a meager stolen book or 18 bucks could convince me to raise my daughter with him or that he'd be a good father... Even with the sleeping around, the selling of drugs to get the freaking wheelchair bus and fucking your mom, who's now my kid's mom..." Quinn's face was red with barely restrained anger "You have _no_ idea, okay? None."

"Quinn, not once did I say his offers were adequate. I simply stated that he did _make_ offers." She sighed, turning away. "Fine. You're obviously dead-set on pursuing this course of action. I can't stop you. I've never been able to stop you from doing what you wanted, so just go do it. But I am not having any part in it."

"I'm not gonna call up Asian Fusion, for God's sake!" Quinn groaned, "I just want to fucking know from my former friend what the hell happened. Why she ditched everything, okay?"

"We don't have any right to ask," Rachel pointed out. "We let her down in high school. Every single time she tried asking for help in her admittedly misguided and painful fashion, we let her down. We weren't there for her when Finn outed her. Or when Brittany forced her to accept her sexuality then dropped her not once but twice. When she was lonely and wanted to feel like she was a part of the club. Can you look back at high school and name _one_ time we didn't let her down? And not only that but piled more garbage on top of her? I'm not absolving myself of blame here, Quinn. I know I was horrible to her too."

"I'm just worried, okay?" Quinn sighed. "I know I let my former best friend down, why do you think I want to try to help fix it?"

"You can't help by prying," Rachel's voice was gentle. "I think that's a lesson I'd know better than anyone thanks to our relationship, right? You have to let her come to you, Quinn. If she wants you to know, she'll tell you, but if you push... who's to say she won't run again?"

Quinn's shoulders slumped. "I just... She's different now. I'm scared that something is wrong and I just want to make sure she's ok."

"We're _all_ different now, Quinn," Rachel smiled lopsidedly. "I like the believe that we've changed for the better. Santana's an adult just like us, but she's also a _mom_ now. Which is not to discredit your experiences with Beth at all, but just... don't discredit what she's done on her own. Okay?"

"I don't." Quinn pouted. "I just have so many questions..."

"So do I." She smiled at her reaching out and taking her hand to give it a squeeze. "So we'll be her friends. Okay? And if and when she feels comfortable opening up to us, we'll be here for her. Right? Because that's what friends do."

"Yeah, yeah." Quinn rolled her eyes, heading towards the door. "Let's just go talk about this ad I scored you."

Rachel grinned at her and tugged her into her dressing room so they could sit together and talk, "Have I mentioned lately that you're amazing, Quinn? Because you are."

"So are you," Quinn said softly as she kissed her friend's cheek.

"I know," Rachel grinned at her with a cocky smirk, making grabby hands at the folder she was carrying. "So, come on, tell me how I'm going to be on TV!"

Quinn laughed softly, spreading the contract out and going over it with her.


	6. Chapter 6

After bundling up Brooklyn, grabbing their overnight bag and her daughter's backpack that had her toys and books along with the cookies they baked they headed out to Rachel's apartment. Santana had managed to avoid her daughter being around while she worked for the better part of a month, but now it was Christmas Eve and she had made a promise.

After a blustery walk to the subway, and a crowded trip to Rachel's stop they finally got to the door. Santana knocked, checking to make sure the little girl clinging to her torso wasn't too cold, they waited for Rachel to open the door.

"Quinn, quit fussing with it! It's fine!" They could hear through the door before it pulled open, revealing Rachel's smiling face, "Hi, you two! I'm _so_ glad you could come. Did you eat?" she asked, tugging them inside, "I attempted to make a chicken to assuage Quinn's latent carnivorous appetite, but she says I made one too big for her to eat by herself, so I hope you're hungry as I truly don't wish to keep it in my apartment. There's also cranberries and salad and potatoes," she babbled cheerfully, having gone a bit overboard cooking in her excitement at having more guests than usual.

"Potatoes!" Brooklyn beamed, looked up from where she was standing and letting Santana unbundle her from her coat and scarves. She stood happily wearing a pair of slightly large blue snowflake pajamas with little feet attached. "I have snowy jammies," Brooklyn said as she pointed to a snowflake near her belly button.

"Sorry, she likes pajamas," Santana said. She had struggled to get the girl into nice clothing but relented after a while. Santana pulled off her own jacket and smoothed down her black jeans and thermal top. "But food sounds good. Thanks."

"It's fine." Rachel smiled up at Santana as she crouched down to make herself closer to Brooklyn's height. "They're very cute jammies, Brooklyn. Thank you for coming for my Christmas Eve movie watching."

"Rachel, what is taking so -" Quinn walked out, wiping her hands on a towel, only to smile when she saw Santana and her little girl. "Oh, hey you two. Rachel made a crazy dinner so I hope you brought your appetites."

"It's color coded, Santana," Rachel nodded, standing up again. "If it's in a red dish, it's vegan. Everything else is not."

Santana chuckled. "Okay, Brooke," she said as she nervously scooted her daughter over closer to Quinn. "This is Quinn. She's a friend of Rachel and mommy's. Quinn, this is Brooklyn, my offspring."

Quinn only barely kept herself from asking who her dad was - refraining after a sharp glance from Rachel - and smiled at the little girl, offering her hand to shake. "Hello, Brooklyn. It's very nice to finally meet you."

"Hi," she said shyly. "Mom and me made cookies," she added as she dug through her pink backpack for the tin. "They..." She couldn't remember the word so she looked up at her mom.

"Vegan, baby," she reminded Brooklyn.

"Vegan." Brooklyn smiled. "Mommy? Foods now?"

"Let's get your hands washed first okay?" Santana said before excusing them to the bathroom.

Rachel smiled at the tin. "Wow. She didn't have to go to that effort," she whispered, before shrugging and heading in to put them in the kitchen with the rest of the food. "Come on, Quinn. Let's get some plates and things out so we can eat at the table."

Quinn followed, putting the cookies on the counter and getting glasses out for water. "Cute kid," she remarked, missing her own daughter, especially since she had just received the Christmas card with new pictures in it earlier in the week.

"Mmhmm," Rachel murmured, distracted getting the chicken out of the oven where it'd been keeping warm. "Do you want to slice this up?" she asked, offering a brand new knife and fork set. "I'm afraid I might make myself ill trying and that would be a terrible way to start the evening."

"Yeah, I got it," Quinn said as she came over and took the utensils. "Thanks... I know you know how hard holidays are for me." She kissed her friend's cheek. "Just thanks."

"That's why we have our traditions," Rachel smiled up at her, giving her a quick hug before moving to make sure everything was ready. "Besides, it gives me an excuse to cuddle up with my best friend and watch old sappy movies instead of being lonely on the holidays."

"I know." She smiled and worked on cutting the chicken. Santana came back in with Brooklyn holding her hand.

"Anything we can help with?" Santana asked as she looked around.

"Grab a plate and serve yourself?" Rachel offered with a smile. "The table's too small to hold everything, but there should be plenty for seconds."

Santana nodded and took a plate after lifting Brooklyn up on her hip to see the the food. She looked at the choices and pointed to the things she thought would be good. Santana brought the girl and her plate to the table and settled her down and cut her food into pieces while whispering to remember her big girl manners. "Rachel? Do you have a phone book or something?" she asked, looking at her daughter who was too small to reach up to her food. "If not she can sit on my lap."

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry," Rachel exclaimed, "I completely forgot. Would my desk chair work? It's adjustable."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Rach, stop freaking out." She went and got the padded chair out of the bedroom. "The carpet in here should keep it from rolling around too much, but we can block the wheels if you think it might be a problem, Santana."

Santana helped Brooklyn get settled. "Perfect. Right, baby?" The little girl nodded and waited for everyone to get their food and sit down. She looked over at her mom when they all got to the table, confused when no one said grace. Santana took her kid's hand and started to whisper a prayer so they wouldn't make the other two uncomfortable.

"Santana," Quinn smirked, "you know we're not irreligious heathens here, right?" She reached for Brooklyn's hand and cocked an expectant brow at Rachel until the girl rolled her eyes and took her other hand before reaching for Santana's.

"Quinn's right. We do pray here. Just generally not out loud," Rachel smiled lopsidedly, "But I'm completely fine with my Christian friends saying grace around me."

"We's Catholic." Brooklyn smiled, causing Santana to laugh.

"Alright, sorry. We don't usually dine with others." Santana said, "Brooke? Do you wanna try thanking God for food and baby Jesus?" she gave an apologetic look to Rachel, not wanting to insult her religion.

Rachel just rolled her eyes and shook her head at Santana with a smirk as Brooke bowed her head. "Dear, God. Thank you for baby Jesus and for food and Ray-chel and Win. I'm glad Mommy has friends now. Amen."

Santana leaned over and kissed her daughter's head. "Te amo, mariposa," she whispered and pulled away. "You can eat now, little one." Brooklyn smiled and carefully speared a sprig of asparagus.

Rachel hummed softly for a moment with her head bowed over her food before picking her fork up and eating a little tofu-loaf. "How is it?" she asked, barely managing to hide her anxiety about the quality of the food.

"It's fine, Rach," Quinn rolled her eyes. "Stop worrying about it."

"I will as soon as you stop worrying about that silly tree," Rachel smirked.

Santana ate her dinner and watched them. "It's very good, Rachel," she said as she looked over and helped Brooklyn reach the glass of water so she could drink out of the straw that Quinn slipped in her cup.

"Are you excited about getting to watch movies with us, Brooklyn?" Rachel asked, getting another bite on her fork.

"Yes, mommy says that we watch bumble-bumble movie." She squirmed with excitement, "I loves it."

"How about Santa Claus?" Quinn smiled at her, "Are you excited about him coming in the morning?"

"We has no chimney." She pouted, looking to Santana. "How can he come?"

"That's why we came here, baby." Santana explained, "Santa will come in the door, I left him the key."

"Santa Claus is magical," Rachel nodded. "He'll be able to stop over at your house sooner because you're here and he doesn't have to wait until you're asleep. Did you bring a stocking for him to fill when he fills your mom's and Quinn's?" she asked, knowing she requested Santana to bring a couple stockings for them the day before at work.

"Yes, it's in my backpack." she said before eating some more. "Santa comes here too? Santa finds me?"

"Yeah, babe but we'll have presents at home tomorrow." she explained, "after church."

"Santa finds everyone, sweetie," Quinn smiled, eating a piece of potato. "Are you enjoying dinner?"

"It's yummy." She smiled and continued to eat her plate clean. Santana moved a few more things over onto Brooklyn's plate off her own.

"Quinn, not seeing your mom on Christmas? Or your dads Rachel?" Santana asked.

"My dads are enjoying a much deserved vacation in the Bahamas this winter," Rachel smiled, forking up some asparagus. "We'll get together when they get back home."

Quinn shrugged, "I think she's got a new beau, so she wasn't able to come up this year and I'm far too busy with work to fly all the way back to Lima."

Santana nodded, "You live in a bean?" Brooklyn asked, her head cocking to the side. "Mommy how do you fly to a bean?"

"You don't, Brooke. Lima is a town where Quinn's mom lives." She explained.

"It's where we _all_ lived when we were little, actually," Rachel pointed out mildly. "But we prefer living here."

"Mommy! You knew Miss Rachel and Quinn? Before?" She asked her eyes widening. "How comes we didn't meet before?" She asked as she looked to the other women.

Quinn glanced at Rachel with a raised brow before smiling at Brooklyn. "Because we didn't know you and your momma were here. We lost track of each other after we graduated from high school and only just met again."

Brooklyn thought for a moment. "Okay..." She said softly, "I like knowing peoples, mom." She said, not knowing that she was making her feel guilty. Santana looked down at her food and pushed it around.

"I know." Santana said, softly.

"We like knowing you too," Rachel smiled over at her. "We're very happy to get to know Santana all over again and to get to know you for the first time. You're lucky your mom decided to keep you to herself until you were big enough to play. My dads showed me off everywhere and I was _so_ tired all the time."

"Mommy carries me when I get sleepy." She said, "She used to wear me on her back when I was smaller and she'd be working." Brooklyn smiled, "I got to play in houses and stuff!"

Santana's eyes went wide and she cleared her throat not needing Rachel and Quinn to know she was a housekeeper at one point. "Brooklyn, are you done with dinner?" She interjected.

"That sounds like a lot of fun," Quinn murmured, smiling quietly, enjoying having a small child around.

Rachel rolled her eyes at Santana's reaction. "Lots more fun that my first two jobs in New York. I could only get work washing dishes. Not even the traditional _waitressing_ jobs that actresses are supposed to land. Touching all the gross slimy half-eaten food too?" she shuddered, "Quinn did that for a bit though, waitressing I mean. Walked dogs too, didn't you?"

Quinn stuck out her tongue, "Don't remind me. That was totally disgusting."

"Mommy made coffee at the green lady place." She smiled at her mom, "Mommy did you play with doggies?"

"No babe, I just waitressed and cleaned." She said, not loving the fact that they were going to talk about this.

"And now she works with us," Rachel grinned across the table at her assistant. "And can I just say that she's the best darn assistant in the city? If it weren't for your mom, Brooklyn, I would be completely lost."

"Not _completely_ ," Quinn muttered, raising an arch brow.

Rachel laughed, "Okay, not _completely_ , but there's no way I'd be able to put on my best work without her."

"Yay!" Brooklyn clapped, "Yay, mommy!" she smiled and scooted over and onto her mom's lap. "Can we watch movies now?"

"As soon as we get everything in the fridge so it doesn't go bad," Quinn pointed out, getting up. "Thank you for dinner, Rachel. It was delicious. Even the chicken."

"Thank you!" Brooklyn smiled, Santana set her down on the chair and got up to help. "Brooke, go get your blankey and your Bumble out of your bag okay?" The little girl nodded and bounced out of the kitchen.

"She's adorable," Quinn remarked, picking up plates and heading into the kitchen where Rachel was packaging things up for storage.

"Oh, Santana, I do hope you'll take some of the non-vegan items home with you and Brooklyn," Rachel called out, unaware that the other women had come in the room. "I'll never eat them and I've made far too much for Quinn to take alone."

"If you want us too." Santana shrugged, "She liked it all so that's good. Sometimes she's picky."

"Aren't all kids?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder. "I seem to recall reading something along those lines once."

"More or less," Santana shrugged, wrapping up some of the dishes and the sliding the dirty stuff in the dishwasher.

"So," Quinn asked, getting the last few things wrapped up and slid into the fridge, "do we want popcorn? I'm assuming no soda pop or wine while the little one is awake."

"Yeah, I have juice for her... but maybe wait a bit before popcorn?" Santana asked, "She has a small stomach and I don't want her to puke."

"How elegantly put, Santana," Rachel rolled her eyes. "We'll hold off on the popcorn then. Not a problem. Oh," she turned and faced Santana, "since we're all staying over night, would you like to use my bedroom for Brooklyn? I promise, the sheets are clean. We can pull the bed out from the sofa."

"When she falls asleep, sure... but I'll just sleep with her on her couch. You and Q can have your bed." She said, as she wiped her hands.

Rachel cocked a brow at Santana, "You _do_ realize her and I don't have that sort of relationship any more, right, Santana? I mean, it's not like we're going to engage in intercourse while a child is here even if we were."

"Rachel!" Quinn turned bright red, "That is _not_ what Santana means!"

"Oh god," Santana groaned. "Never... we said to never mention that again to me!" she warned her boss. "But, I mean you just sleep in the same bed I'm sure you're used to it. I'll crash on the couch with my kid! Fuck... my mind."

"Oh my God, _Rachel_ ," Quinn hissed, her cheeks flushing scarlet, "you did _not_ talk to Santana about our... our _sex life_!"

Rachel looked confused. "Does it really matter? It was quite a long time ago, Quinn, and honestly, I've always been open about sexual things. Didn't I come to you and Santana for advice about Finn... and Jesse for that matter."

"Yeah... but it's you and Q! I don't wanna know!" She said running her hand through her hair, "It's just weird!"

Quinn cocked a brow, though her cheeks were still red. "What's weird? That I would perhaps have sex with someone I cared about? Or that it was with Rachel and not you?"

Hearing movement in the hall, Rachel's eyes widened. "Lovely as this conversation is, ladies, we do have a child present, so perhaps we should shelve this topic for another time?"

"Mommy?" Brooklyn asked, poking her head into the kitchen where they were just finishing putting everything away, "Is it Bumble and Red Nose time now?"

Santana just shot a glare at Quinn before following her daughter into the living room. "Sure it is, babe. You've been so patient, too," she said as she sat down on the end of the couch and smiled as she felt her daughter crawl up on her. She got comfortable in her lap and Santana wrapped the blanket around her daughter and hugged her.

"Are we all comfortable?" Rachel asked with a grin as Quinn flopped down in the arm chair and stuck her tongue out at Rachel as the smaller woman fumbled the red DVD case open and slid the disc into the player. Grabbing the remote off the top of the tv stand, she flicked the TV on and crawled onto the sofa herself before toggling it to the DVD feed.

"Bumble-Bumble." Brooklyn sung as she played with her toy and made it dance. "Bumble dance, Mommy."

"I see, watch your movie." Santana whispered, "No talking through it okay? We're not at home."

"Oh, she might as well," Quinn chuckled, hooking a thumb Rachel's direction. "Someone else always does."

Rachel pouted, defensively. "I do not! Well... not _always_. Okay... _maybe_ once in a while..." Quinn raised a brow and she sighed, "Alright, _fine_ , so _maybe_ I like to discuss a film while I'm watching! I can't help it! And I'm at home, so why can't I?"

Brooklyn giggled. "Can I talk to her then?" she asked with a smile.

Santana just laughed and cuddled her daughter closer as the snowman came on to the screen.

* * *

They were about half way though _It's a Wonderful Life_ when Rachel glanced over and saw Brooklyn's eyes were closed and her grip on her Bumble had loosened. "Santana," she called softly, "I think she's asleep. You want me to pause it while you get her tucked in?"

"No, it's okay." Santana smiled and wrapped her little girl up in her blanket and picked up her toy and carried her to the bedroom. She laid the girl in the middle of the bed and grabbed the two pillows and put them on the edge of her rolling zone. Santana smiled and laid the blanket over her and sat stroking her back for a few minutes. She softly sang a lullaby in Spanish to her little girl, her voice slightly drifting out of the room.

"Want a glass of wine, Rach?" Quinn asked softly, getting up out of her chair.

"What?" Rachel glanced up from the screen. "Oh, sure. Thanks, Quinn."

Pausing at the entrance to Rachel's room, Quinn poked her head in. "Santana? I'm opening a bottle of wine. Would you like a glass?" She spoke softly to avoid disturbing the little girl.

"Sure," Santana whispered, her eyes never leaving her daughter. "I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Okay. Take your time, there's no rush," Quinn smiled gently, heading to the kitchen to pour three glasses and bring the bottle along with her.

After nearly ten minutes, Santana came back out and closed the door slightly. "Sorry, I wanted to make sure she was really asleep," She said before sitting on the couch again.

Quinn had taken over the other arm, leaving the middle of the couch for Santana. Rachel smiled at her, handing her a glass, "Don't worry, no one's going to be offended by you taking care of your daughter, Santana. Relax. If you want, you can sleep with her in there. It wouldn't be the first time Quinn and I crashed on the sofa after a long movie night after all."

"Nah. Little one will be up needing to pee in like three hours and we can sleep on the couch." She smiled, taking the glass and a sip. "She's very predictable."

"If you're sure. You are my guest after all," Rachel smiled, topping off her glass.

"Hey, what am I then?" Quinn asked, mock-offended.

"Family," Rachel shrugged.

"I'm new and shiny." Santana teased, "You're old news." She said as she curled her knees up to her chest.

"I like family better than _old news_ ," Quinn groused, rolling her eyes.

"So... we gonna watch this movie?" She asked, "Or did you two decide to get back together and feel the need to fulfill a scary lesbian fantasy and want a threesome?" She said with mock fright. "I'm not into that."

"Ew!" Quinn grimaced and took a drink from her glass. "You've got a twisted mind, Lopez."

"Indeed," Rachel nodded, sipping, "while I'm not opposed to many things sexually, the idea of a threesome or moresome is not appealing. I prefer to focus all of my attention on a single partner during intercourse."

"I was joking," Santana smiled and took a sip from her glass. "It's mildly awkward so I'm trying to break the tension." She explained as she drained her glass.

"With sex jokes." Quinn snorted shaking her head. "Yep, you're the same Santana Lopez alright."

"Quinn," Rachel chided mildly. "There's no need to be so crass."

Santana laughed and she nursed her wine. It felt odd being in the awkwardly high school feeling moment.

For the rest of the film, they just sipped at their wine and enjoyed each other's company. When the film ended, Rachel got up to change it to _Miracle on 31st Street_. "This is nice," she murmured, sitting back down. "Usually it's just Quinn and I, but it's nice having you and Brooklyn here tonight, Santana. It actually feels like a family a little." She smiled lopsidedly, just a little buzzed by the wine. "It's really nice. Thank you so much for coming."

"Thanks for asking us, we would have just been doing the same thing at our place." She shrugged. "But it's nice being around adults for a little while."

"Cheers to that!" Quinn saluted Santana with her glass. "I feel like I'm surrounded with children at work most of the time, though technically I suppose they are all adults."

"I mean, I forget with the height and tantrums that she's not a child..." Santana winked, "But, it's nice working with Rachel."

"Oh ha ha, very funny," Rachel pouted, dropping back down on the couch. "I'll have you know that I am plenty mature, Santana. Just because I'm small is no cause to infer that I am lacking in maturity. Besides, you're not much taller than me, you know."

"Mmmhm." Santana laughed softly. "You keep telling yourself that."

"You're _not_ ," she all but stomped her foot, making Quinn snicker into her wine glass. "Quinn's taller than both of us!"

"Hey, don't make me put you in time out." Santana scolded, "I'm a mom, I can do that."

"Oh my god," Quinn giggled - actually _giggled_. "I can imagine that. I can _so_ imagine that..."

Rachel just huffed and crossed her arms - unintentionally making herself look even more juvenile. "I don't have to take this. I just don't. I'm a star you know."

Santana nearly fell off the couch laughing. "Oh fuck," She giggled, "You're so redic, you really are such a little kid!"

"I am not!" Rachel pouted. "Why are you two being so mean?"

"Because you're being crazy." Santana said as she poured herself some more wine and slid onto the floor. "Don't pout or I'm gonna put you to bed with my four year old."

"You're going to... oh my _God_ ," Quinn laughed, putting her glass down before she spilled it. "God, I've missed you, Santana. You know just what to say."

Santana smiled as she looked at her former cheerleading captain. "That's my job."

"I thought your job was to keep me out of trouble?" Rachel asked, glancing over at her slyly.

"That's the other part of my job." She smiled, "My business cards should say, _Santana Lopez: professional mom, Berry wrangler and quipper._ "

Quinn was nearly on the floor laughing. "Oh God, Rach, you gotta let me use your computer and printer. I just came up with the _best_ idea for San's Christmas gift."

"Quinn Fabray, if you use _my_ computer to make Santana business cards call her a _Berry Wrangler_ I'm going to... to... to _tickle you_!" The threat just served to make Quinn laugh that much harder under Rachel glower.

Santana giggled and nursed her drink as she watched the friends interact. "Okay... I kinda get it now," she said as she looked at their bickering. "I get why you two got together."

"You do?" Rachel looked over curiously from where she'd been glaring at Quinn. "Please illuminate for us, will you?" Her lips quirked. "Most people just think it was a... what was the term, Quinn?"

"An experiment," Quinn supplied trying to catch her breath, still grinning.

"An experiment is once," Santana remarked. "If you wake up over and over again thinking, _Damn, I really wanna fuck her_... that's pretty much negating the experiment." She cocked her head. "I mean I knew Q wanted to bang you in high school... I just didn't think you'd have the balls to do so."

Rachel's jaw dropped, "She did not! She loathed me high school." She took a bit larger drink from her glass than she'd expected and swallowed hurriedly to cover her fluster.

"You keep thinking that," Santana said slyly as she glanced over to the blonde.

Quinn just blushed and shook her head. "Don't go there, Lopez," she warned, but the smirk took the sting away.

"Deflection." Santana smiled. "Whatever you ended up bedding her so good for you," she said with a shrug, lying down on the floor and rested her hands on her stomach.

"Not really," Quinn slid down off the couch to sit on the floor while Rachel stretched out on the couch behind them. "We kinda fought. A lot. And I was drinking a _lot_ more than I should to deal with the stress from school, so that just made everything worse. We almost killed our friendship with it."

"We didn't though," Rachel pointed out, idly running her fingers through the blonde's short hair. "Stop dwelling on it, Quinn. It ended when it was supposed to."

Santana watched, sad that she didn't have anyone in her life that she cared about like that - or that cared about her. "It's still amazing. I mean fuck even though all that … you can still sit here and be all cute?" She shrugged and drained her glass. "It's special and shit."

"Took us awhile to get here," Rachel shrugged. "It was not pretty while it was happening, Santana. Now we're just a couple of lonely spinsters keeping each other company," she teased, nudging her friend.

"We are a cat away from a state of pathetic I'm not willing to hit," Quinn said, watching Santana and reading her face. "What's up with you? You look sad," she added softly.

"Nothing," Santana lied, pouring them all more wine.

"Wow," Rachel muttered, sipping her refreshed glass, "I've seen better acting out of pre-schoolers."

"I just... It's dumb that you guys can be so good of friends after all the shit and you guys being together." She groaned. "It just reminded me of something, okay?"

Rachel blinked at her. "Why's it dumb?" she asked softly. "I need her." She smiled lopsidedly, ignoring the pained expression coming from her best friend. "Before you showed back up, Santana, Quinn was, quite literally, the only person I could call a friend in this city. Kurt used to live here, but he left for LA a couple years ago to work in some design studio. I don't have anyone else. We tore each other apart fighting while we were together, but I don't have anyone I can rely on but her and my life is far too stressful to get through alone..."

"I know the feeling," she mumbled. "I just don't get it. How you guys can be okay..." She looked into her glass. "I could never be friends with anyone after something like that."

"That's why we ended things when we did." Quinn shrugged, glancing away. "We didn't work as lovers. At all. It's completely pathetic, but I was used to having her around... and I needed a friend too. It's not like Brittany would have had a clue and you just vanished..."

Rachel winced, feeling like a second choice - or worse a _third_ choice - with Quinn again. "I suppose we're just friends out of necessity then. I'm sure you'll find someone though, Quinn. You've actually had relationships that last beyond the first date..."

"Don't do that," Quinn said. "Don't." She looked over at her. "You know I love you, you know you're not a second choice so just stop." As Quinn tried to calm Rachel down, no one noticed that Santana had curled into herself at the mention of Brittany.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Quinn," she chided, "I think we both know about how far our friendship would have developed if you'd had the rest of the Unholy Trio to lean on instead of me. Santana," she turned to look at her with a smile only to frown as she watched her curl in on herself. "what's wrong?" She crawled over so she could rest a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Please don't talk about her," she said softly, "I don't want to hear her name okay?"

"Who? Oh," she murmured, connecting the dots. "Sorry, Santana. We'll be more circumspect in the future. Right, Quinn?"

"You can't hide forever," Quinn mumbled softly.

"She's not even on this side of the country, Quinn. Stop pushing," Rachel chided, shooting her friend a look.

"I don't want to know where she is," Santana snapped. "She ruined my life. I can hide forever."

"I don't know where she is anyway," Rachel lied - she had at least a general idea where most of Glee had ended up - rubbing the woman's shoulder. "We're not going to talk about her okay? Let's just have some wine and watch some trashy TV unfit for children, okay? Maybe some reality shows?"

Santana got up and wobbled slightly. "I'm gonna use the bathroom." She wiped her eyes and headed into the bathroom hear Rachel bedroom.

"She needs to deal with this, Rachel," Quinn hissed. "She needs to deal with her and Brittany's past. It's going to eat her alive."

"Santana is hurting, Quinn. She doesn't need us rubbing it in her face," Rachel glared. "Besides, we don't even know what _happened_! All _I_ know is they weren't together at graduation. Do _you_ know anything different?"

"Yeah," she said simply, "I do. I wasn't there, but Santana came to my hospital room after it happened."

"She," Rachel looked concerned, "she told you?"

"Some of it... Yeah." she said, "Brittany cheated on her the night I got into the accident." Quinn sighed, "Santana walked in on it."

"What?!" she squawked then lowered her voice, " _What_? I can't... well, I hate to say it but I _can_ believe it." She looked pained admitting it. "Brittany never was the most... loyal of individuals..."

"Yeah." Quinn sighed. "It got worse after because San was willing to let her try again for some dumbass reason."

"Well," Rachel suggested with a sigh, shrugging, "she loved her... people do foolish things when they're in love. Or even when they just think they are. Look at me and Finn after all..."

Santana came out and having heard everything the girl sighed. "I forgave her because I ended up cheating on her that night too."

"What?" It was all a bit too confusing with the amount of wine she'd drank - having finished off her glass in startlement of hearing Brittany cheated - and Rachel wasn't sure she was following. "Y-you cheated too?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Santana, sometimes, I swear your life is a soap opera."

"Fuck you, like yours isn't?" Santana hissed. "Yeah, evidently I got trashed after finding her fucking Wheels and fucked someone." She ran her hand over her face. "I forgave her after but she wouldn't stop seeing him. She... she got mean and he got mean and I couldn't deal. She threw me away when I needed her the most."

"Sorry," Quinn muttered, busying herself with her glass.

"Santana," Rachel whispered softly, "I'm sorry... I didn't know."

"Yeah. No one really cared..." she said honestly, "I get that Quinn was hurt but even when you got back to school you didn't care... No one even noticed me after that. After she left me, no one in Glee cared even I stopped showing up."

"I cared," Rachel looked hurt, "but I... I... was busy helping Quinn. I'm sorry for letting you down..."

"You had Quinn and you had Finn. Even Puck didn't notice I left..." She sniffled, "It doesn't even matter."

"It matters," Quinn mumbled putting her glass down and crawling over to hug her friend. "It matters, San. We let you down and none of us should have."

"You would have all hated me. If I stayed everyone would have hated me." She sniffled. "I... I couldn't take it. I didn't want the talks."

"Santana, I wouldn't have hated you," Rachel whispered. "Quinn wouldn't have. I doubt Noah would have either. Don't take everything on yourself. Just talk to us, okay?"

"I couldn't handle what everyone would say." She whimpered, "After my reputation... Finn telling the whole world, having to be out with _her_..." she shook as she thought about it. "I ruined the one good couple in glee."

"The one good couple?" Rachel frowned. "What are you talking about, Santana? Everyone was distressed that night, I'm certain mistakes that may have been made under extreme circumstances could be forgiven..."

"Brooklyn," Santana whispered as she closed her eyes.

"What about her?" Quinn whispered, her cheek on Santana's shoulder as her arms wrapped around the other woman's waist.

"He didn't know it was me," Santana whispered. "I didn't tell him to leave... but, he thought I was someone else."

"He thought you were Tina?" Quinn whispered, when Santana nodded slightly she looked over at Rachel.

"Santana," Rachel licked her lips, looking at her uncertainly, "would it be alright if I hugged you now?"

Santana just shrugged. "He didn't remember... so, I never told him." She swallowed. "I got kicked out when I told my parents."

Rachel slid over next to her and wrapped her arms around her so she was being hugged by both her former best friend and former enemy, one on either side. "It's not your fault," she whispered, "everyone was upset. I'm so sorry about your parents, Santana. You could have stayed with me..."

"Or me," Quinn offered with a sad smile. "If anyone knew about how much being a pregnant teen who got kicked out of her home because of it, it was me. I wouldn't have judged you, San."

"I couldn't be a pregnant teen lesbian," she whispered. "I couldn't have her in Lima, Tina would have found out. Fucking ninja sperm."

Quinn didn't say a word but Rachel could practically hear her shouting _I knew it!_ in the sharp glare she sent at her. Rachel shook her head. "You could have at least waited until we left. We could have come here together. I'm sure between the three of us we could have found somewhere to live. Right?" She smiled wanly, hoping her fantasy could have been real.

"You guys hadn't talked to me in weeks..." she sniffled, "I just needed to go. I needed to figure out what I was going to do."

"I had barely talked to _anyone_ in weeks," Quinn pointed out wryly. "Broken jaw, remember?" She sighed. "I'm glad you found us again though. Even if it was by accident."

"Everything happens as it's supposed to, Quinn," Rachel murmured, hugging Santana tighter. "It'll be okay, Santana. We're not in Lima anymore. None of that has to matter any more..."

"Yeah." Santana sniffled before she heard shuffling and a soft whisper of _Mommy?_. Santana scrambled away and took Brooklyn in her arms. "What's wrong, baby?"

"Heard voices and got scared. Weren't there, Mommy." she whimpered.

"I'm here, do you wanna go to the bathroom and then mommy can go back to bed with you?" Brooklyn nodded and Santana took her into the bathroom.

"It's so sad," Rachel mumbled, playing with the hem of her shirt. "How did we all just... ignore her like that, Quinn?"

"A lot of shit was going down." Quinn sighed and kissed Rachel's head. "Bedtime. Let me hang up the stockings while you get into bed."

"Oh no, you don't get to see what's in the stockings!" Rachel cried softly, "That is Jewish Santa's job, now scoot and find us some PJs while they're in the bathroom."

Quinn stood up and headed into the bedroom to get undressed and get a pair if pajamas for Rachel. Out in the living room, Rachel carefully filled the three stockings with an orange, a small jar of nuts - or bag of special candies in Brooklyn's case - and a couple of presents apiece. Nothing was what she'd consider terribly expensive - another Beanie Baby and a couple of miniature Golden Books for Brooklyn, a nice pen set and decent watch for Quinn, and a neatly wrapped unlimited 30 day pass for the subway and a gift card to a nice family restaurant along with a paperback novel she'd thought the woman might enough for Santana - but it made her feel good to give the people in her life a little surprise for the holidays since her family didn't exchange gifts now that she'd grown up.

She carefully hung them under the living room's sole window and stepped back to admire the effect with a smile. Between the three stockings and the tiny tree Quinn had insisted on, it almost looked like a real Christmas to her. Heading into the bedroom she grabbed her PJs and headed for the bathroom, cutting off Santana and Brooke before they could head into the living room.

"Santana, why don't the two of you just stay in my bed? It's plenty big enough and there's nothing wrong with Christmas cuddles between friends, right?" she smiled hopefully up at the taller woman. "Besides, what if Santa comes?" she widened her eyes and slightly cocked her head towards the living room, trying to let Santana know the stockings were full and she didn't want to spoil the surprise for Brooklyn.

"Mommy! Santa can't see me!" she exclaimed as she pulled her mom into the bedroom.

"Alright, Alright." She picked the girl up tossed her on the bed with Quinn. Santana pulled off her jeans and sat on the bed with her kid. "You need to get back to sleep, now or Santa won't come."

Rachel ducked into the bathroom to change and came back out in pink flannel pajamas... with feet. Quinn looked at her and gave an exasperated sigh. "Rach, I thought you got rid of those."

"Why? They're so warm and toasty!" Rachel grinned, spinning around and hugging herself, "Besides, built in slippers!"

"Me too!" Brooklyn laid against her mom's bare legs, "Mommy hates hates her feets warm, but I don't!" She giggles as Santana laid back and pulled Brooklyn on top of her and she cuddled into her body. "Cuddles, mommy?"

"Yes, baby." She smiled as she helped flip her over and run her fingers through her hair.

"There's plenty of room if you don't mind sharing the bed with a couple of your old friends?" Quinn asked, softly.

"Come on, Santana, it'll be fun." Rachel tried smiling, "Like a slumber party."

"Very true." Santana said, "Brooklyn, you gotta sleep okay?" The little girl nodded and yawned. "I love you so much."

"Love you too, Mommy," she mumbled as she drifted off.

Quinn and Rachel crawled into the bed on either side of Santana and Brooklyn laying in the middle. Quinn cuddled into her oldest friend as Rachel pulled the blanket up over the four of them with a sleepy yawn.

"See you in the morning, everyone," she whispered, snuggling into her pillow and drifting off.


	7. Chapter 7

Quinn was the first one to wake up, looking over and smirking to see that Rachel's resolve to not cuddle and make Santana uncomfortable hadn't lasted very long. The small woman was practically attached to the side of their friend, snuggled into her shoulder, with Brooklyn somehow wiggled into the tiny pocket between them. She barely kept herself from snickering as she tried to ease her way out of the bed without waking anyone.

It was early yet, and she yawned softly as she glanced out the window at the grey dawn before heading to the kitchen to set coffee brewing. Noticing the stockings stuck under the window like Rachel always did, she shook her head in fond amusement, sneaking to her coat and slipping a small wrapped box out of the pocket to tuck into Brooklyn's stocking and the envelope with Santana's Christmas bonus check to slip into hers. Hearing the soft gurgle of the coffeemaker as it finished brewing, she returned to the kitchen to pour a cup.

As soon as Santana caught of whiff of coffee her brain clicked awake. She blinked open her eyes and noticed that the two tiny brunettes that laid to her left had begun to cuddle each other. Santana shook her head and rubbed her eyes. She kissed Brooklyn's crown before sliding off the bed and stretching before heading over to the kitchen.

"Merry Christmas, Quinn." Santana grumbled out as she headed over to her backpack. She dug out a wrapped present and two smaller ones and put them under the small tree. She yawned and stood up and arched her back to crack her spine before heading over to find coffee.

Quinn had just finished pouring her a mug when she got into the kitchen. "Merry Christmas, Santana," she smiled at her as she handed her the coffee. "There's creamer and things in the fridge. Rach has that ridiculous almond milk stuff, but I snuck a bottle of hazelnut real dairy creamer in last night if you're interested. Sugar's in the jar on the counter but I warn you - it's brown. Apparently the white stuff is bleached with bone meal. Kinda gross. How'd you sleep?"

"Better that I didn't know about bleached sugar." She scrunched up her face and poured her coffee and put some creamer in it. "It's a good thing I don't use sugar." She said with a yawn. "I slept fine, Brooklyn kicks sometimes so that's a bit rough but it was nice having a old school cuddle pile."

"Yeah, I noticed you got Rachel the limpet attached to you and Brooklyn when I got up this morning," she smirked, sipping her second cup of the morning. "What'd you do with the footie-pajama mafia anyway? Leave them snuggling?"

"Yep," Santana said as she sat down and drank some of her coffee. "They are clinging to each other right now." She rolled her eyes and shrugged, "Hey, I'm sorry I got over emotional last night. You know.. wine and me don't mix."

Quinn shrugged, "No big deal. You know what happens to me when I get a bit drunk. No one needs angry Quinn." She offered a lopsided smile, "You needed to vent and we were here to listen to you get it out. It's cool." She reached over and gave Santana's hand a squeeze, "So... how are you liking working with the midget?"

"It's better than any other job I've had. It pays pretty well and Brooklyn's happy, so that's really all I care about." She shrugged, "Though having a kid has made me a lot more tolerant of Rachel's tantrums."

"Oh, so you haven't felt the urge to throw whatever you were drinking in her face yet?" Quinn smirked, "You're doing better than me then. I actually _have_ thrown a glass of water in her face a couple of times. Coffee's too expensive to waste."

"Nah, I got to watch that photographer throw a bucket on her. Fucking hilarious if I didn't have to keep her from killing him..." She smiled and took another sip. "What do you guys normally do on Christmas?"

Quinn snorted, "Oh God, no _wonder_ she insisted on cancelling every other shoot that used that guy and wrote that nasty review on him. Wish I could have seen it," she chuckled and shook her head. "We don't do much. Rachel's pretty much done with her holiday by Christmas so usually I go to church around noon and if neither of us have a date - which lately, hasn't happened to often - we go out to Pang's for dinner with what seems like half her congregation."

Santana chuckled, "Sounds nice." She said as she took a long sip, "Who has a date on Christmas?" She asked curiously.

"Rachel did. Once," Quinn laughed softly. "I think he was an atheist or something. He was so shocked when he realized just how much effort Rachel puts into her faith. If I remember right, he called her a _stealth religious freak_ and a _ninja Jew_ when they broke up."

"Sounds like a real winner." She said, "I don't even understand how people are like that." She got up and filled her cup again. "I'm so happy I don't have to deal with that shit."

"What shit?" Quinn asked curiously. "Some people are just that unpleasant. Hmm," she considered, glancing at the cabinets as she got up to refill her own cup. "Do you think the girls would like oatmeal for breakfast? I'm sure Rachel's got all we need for it and probably some fresh fruit and things to stir in."

"As long as you have a banana it will be good." She said, "I should go wake the short people up..." She said as she stood up, "I also need to put pants on."

"Oh, you don't _have_ to." Quinn smirked, getting the things out to make oatmeal. She glanced at Santana and waggled her brows. "I mean, you certainly haven't lost your edge by having a kid, San."

"Well, I was always the hottest at school." She said leaning against the counter. "But, I remember you bouncing back pretty fast after you had yours."

"I worked my _ass_ off that summer," she pointed out, bumping Santana's hip with hers. "And had to crash diet ala Sue. It _sucked_."

"I vaguely remember lots of five am trips to the track." Santana reminded her, "Lots of sweat and tears on your part. I, on the other hand, am always this awesome looking."

"I've noticed and am appropriately jealous," Quinn teased. "But it _is_ Christmas and we haven't even gotten into presents yet, so there's no rush to get dressed. If you're self-conscious, you can steal something of Rachel's. I'm sure her pants would fit you. Might even be a bit loose."

"I can just put my jeans on when I wake..." Before she could even finish her sentence Brooklyn paddled out into the kitchen. She had her blanket over her head like a hood and her bumble clutched to her chest. She blinked her eyes and automatically moved into Santana's arms. "Morning, baby-girl." Santana whispered as she picked the little girl up and moved to sit back down in the chair and cuddle her daughter.

Rachel padded out a bit later, rubbing her eyes and yawning, "Is that coffee I smell?" she mumbled, blinking at having a full kitchen.

"Sure is," Quinn responded, handing her the mug she'd started pouring when she spotted Brooklyn, knowing her friend would be up soon. "I'm making oatmeal for everyone too."

"Mmm," Rachel hummed, breathing in the rich aroma of the coffee with a pleased smile. "You're an angel." She sipped at the coffee as she walked over to get her box of almond milk and spoon in a bit of sugar, giving it a stir. "Would you like some juice, Brooklyn? I've got orange, apple, pineapple, and strawberry banana."

Brooklyn mumbled something from under her blanket, "Brooke says apple, please." Santana interpreted. "She's not a morning person," the young mother explained, "I have her Jasmine sip cup in that bag there." She pointed to the pink backpack.

Waking up a bit more, Rachel set her coffee on the counter and padded over to the backpack, rummaging around for a moment before she came up with the cup. "Do you add ice, Santana, or does she prefer it plain?" she asked as she padded back over to the fridge to get out the jug from the co-op.

"I cut it with w-a-t-e-r." Santana spelled, "It's better for her." She explained, "put like half of it juice and then top it off."

Rachel gave her an odd look for spelling it out, but just shrugged and grabbed the filtered water pitcher filling the cup half full with juice before topping it off with water. Screwing the cap on, she put the juice and water away before giving the cup a little shake and handing it to Brooklyn. "Here you go, sweetie. Quinn's going to have some oatmeal made soon. Do you like anything in your oatmeal?"

Brooklyn popped her head out of the blanket and blinked at the lights. Her hair was messy and she took the cup and mumbled thank you. Santana smoothed down her daughter's hair and kissed her temple. "Ba-nana. Please," she said taking a gasp of breath after trying to drink a lot of juice in a single breath.

"Don't drink so fast, sweetie," Rachel chided, before picking a banana from the fruit bowl on the counter and peeling and slicing it. "How about you, Santana? What do you like in your oatmeal?"

"I'm not really a breakfast person, I'll just eat whatever Brooke doesn't finish like I do at home." She shrugged and looped her arms around her daughter's waist and snuggled into her.

"Are you sure?" Rachel glanced back, "I've got some fairly tasty peaches and I'll be slicing one up anyway for mine."

"Nah." Santana said, "I'm good." She took another sip of her coffee before pulling Brooklyn's hair into a ponytail. "Babe, do you remember what today is?"

"No?" Brooklyn looked up, then suddenly her face lit up. "Santa! Christmas, it's Christmas, mommy!"

"Yes it is," she smiled.

"Do you want to wait until after we eat?" Quinn asked, nodding towards the living room slightly as she started dividing the oatmeal into three fairly large bowls while Rachel tossed fruit bits into them.

"Yes," Santana nodded, "Patience is a skill we need to work on." She smiled and watched Brooklyn hum a Christmas carol softly to herself.

"Alright," Quinn nodded, bringing the dishes over to the table.

Rachel grabbed the container of almond milk. "Santana, would you and Brooke care for some milk to cool your oatmeal? Or would you just like some ice?"

Santana looked at the box warily, "Ice. She's allergic to tree nuts." She explained, "It's not severe but I'd prefer to not test it."

"I do have cow's milk," she pointed out mildly, grabbing a couple of cubes of ice from the freezer to drop in Santana and Brooke's bowl. "Quinn?"

"It's really cow's milk?" she asked, looking suspiciously at Rachel. "Last time it was goat's milk," she explained to Santana, "some sort of complicated revenge scheme."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "It's really cow's milk, Quinn. Though I honestly don't see what's wrong with goat's milk," she huffed, getting out the small carton of regular 1% milk for Quinn before sitting down to eat.

"Goat's milk is nasty." Santana blanched, "My _abulea_ made me drink it when we visited my family in Puerto Rico once." She stirred around the ice in the oatmeal letting it cool off before helping Brooklyn start eating.

"See?" Quinn pointed at Rachel with her spoon before going back to stirring her milk, banana and peach oatmeal. "I told you it was gross. That was positively evil switching my milk."

Rachel shrugged. "Taught you not to have me buy your groceries with such a vague list, now didn't it?" She glanced at Santana, "The next list was very specific on what kind of products she wanted and shopping was much easier."

"I get that, but yours take specific to a insane level." Santana pointed out. "You put prices and aisle numbers."

"I think the extra details help to make things go quicker," Rachel remarked mildly. "All I was asking for was something more than just milk, bread, cereal, fish and peanut butter on the list. There are a great many varieties after all. Almond, soy, cow's, goat's, one percent, two percent, skim, whole... the list is quite absurd sometimes."

"You keep thinking that." Santana smiled as Brooklyn held the spoon up for Santana to take a bite. "Thank you." She smiled and let her child go back to eating. "But there are a lot of types of cereal, Quinn." Santana smirked.

"Oh _God_ , tell me about it," Quinn groaned. She ate a bit, then pointed her spoon at Rachel, "She came home with that nasty milk, some sort of little nugget cereal that looked like bird food or something, this gross bread that was nearly black and _herring_. At least I could actually _eat_ crunchy, store brand peanut butter."

"Precision is nothing to be laughed at, Quinn," Rachel pointed out mildly, nibbling on a slice of peach she'd fished out of her bowl.

"That's awful." Santana said, "Rachel never gets to shop for me and Brooke. We needs our goods to be just right." She said, "Right, babe?"

"Mommy teaches me to read at store." Brooklyn declared proudly, "I like going to the store."

"Sounds fun," Rachel smiled at her. "And Santana, all you'd have to do is tell me what you want. Instead of leaving things incredibly generic the way Quinn was wont to."

Quinn shrugged, "She did get better about it after I started specifying. Though if I didn't ask for a specific brand, I got generic a lot of the time."

"It's cheaper," she pointed out, "and there's nothing at all wrong with generic. Most of the time it's the exact same product as the brand name, even made in the same factory anyway, so why spend the extra money for the fancy packaging and marketing?"

"Yeah that's what we do." Santana smiled, "Generic is a brand in my world." When Brooklyn had finished, Santana ate the last few bites and patted her daughter's tummy. "Alright baby, let's go get you changed then see if Santa came?"

"Santa!" Brooklyn cheered, wiggling to get down off her mom's lap so she could get her change of clothes from her backpack and go change in the bathroom. "Come on, Mommy! We gotta change to see if Santa found me!"

Rachel laughed softly watching her scurry around. "It certainly makes for an interesting Christmas to have a child around on Christmas morning."

"Wait until she experiences Jewish Santa," Quinn chuckled, finishing off her oatmeal and getting up to put things in the sink.

* * *

Santana wrangled her daughter into a simple red dress with white tights and a little black flats. "Braid or straight?" she asked as she ran a brush through her daughters hair.

"Braid." She asked, turning to the side so Santana could pull her locks into a long side braid.

"So after we see if Santa came here we need to go to church then home to open Christmas presents at home okay?" she reminded the girl, "Mommy will make dinner and we can go play in the snow if you want."

"Yay!" Brooke smiled picking up her Bumble again as Santana got changed into her pants and a dress shirt. "You look pretty, mommy."

"Thank you, Brooke." Santana smiled before taking the girl out to the living room. "Close your eyes."

* * *

While Santana and Brooke and been getting dressed in the bathroom, Quinn and Rachel and decided to follow the trend in the bedroom. "It feels entirely weird to be getting dressed so early on Christmas," Rachel pouted, getting out of her pink footie-pjs with a soft sigh before dressing in a black velvet skirt and a red top over her white tights. Slipping on her Mary Janes, she tied a neat red and green bow in her hair.

"Just deal with it," Quinn muttered, rolling her eyes as she smoothed down her white dress. "And you _seriously_ need a fashion sense update. You look like a child in that."

"What's wrong with it?" Rachel pouted looking down at her outfits.

"Nothing," Quinn shrugged, "if you were six."

Rachel just pouted at her and flounced out of the room accompanied by Quinn's laughter. Once she got out, she saw Brooklyn and Santana heading for the sofa and smiled delightedly. "Jewish Santa time!"

"Mommy! We looks alike!" Brooklyn pointed out as she looked at Rachel's outfit. Santana nearly fell over at the comment.

"Oh sweet god." Santana laughed as she sat down on the couch.

Quinn came in just in time to hear the comment and nearly doubled over laughing. "You see, Rachel!"

"What?" Rachel glowered at the two women laughing at her, "Just because she shares my impeccably classic taste in fashion doesn't mean anything!"

Brooklyn's eyes went wide when she saw the stockings, "Mommy!" she gasped, her little hand pointed to the window. "Santa found me!"

"He did, baby, Santa knows where all the little girls who are very good and very sweet are." She smiled and kissed her daughter's head.

"He's an exceptionally clever man," Rachel nodded, going to the window and making a production about checking package tags. "Oh, we have a stocking for _Quinn_ ," she chirped, bringing it over to a smiling Quinn who rolled her eyes as Rachel plopped it in her lap and skipped back over to the stockings, "and _Brooklyn_ ," she picked up the middle stocking and carried it over to the little girl who clapped before taking it with a little thank you. "And finally," Rachel picked up the last stocking, "one for Santana." Smiling she walked over and handed it to her.

Santana looked up from her daughter, "Really?" She asked softly, "Rachel..." She looked at her and blinked taking it reluctantly. "Thanks."

"All good Christian _and_ Catholic girls get a stocking on Christmas," Rachel smiled at her, heading to the armchair to take her seat, "You're quite welcome, Santana. Well, go on. What are you all waiting for? It's present time!"

"I can open?" Brooklyn asked as she sat cross-legged on the floor. Santana nodded and the little girl opened the present and carefully took things out one by one and showed them to her mom. "Mommy a new toy like froggie!" She exclaimed as she held the beanie baby horse.

"Look at that!" Santana smiled and looked up and smiled to Rachel. "That's amazing!"

Rachel grinned, "Wow, Brooklyn. Now you've got two little friends."

Quinn carefully opened the wrapped rectangular box to reveal the pen set. "Oh, a new pen set! However did Santa know I needed a new one?" she asked, shooting a sly look at Rachel who blushed.

"I suppose he just knew," she shrugged, smiling. "He is magical after all, right?"

"Mommy? What did Santa bring you?" She asked as she looked in her mom's stocking. "Needs help?"

"Sure, babe," Santana smiled as she let Brooklyn take the gifts out of her stocking and set them on the floor.

"Mommy look." Brooklyn said, "You has a new book and card thingies."

"That's very exciting, darling, these are for the subway. Santa knew mommy needed them, he's so smart." She said with a kiss to her daughter's head.

"They're not _all_ for the subway," Rachel pouted, giving the little stack a nudge. "See? There's another one too. See? It's to a restaurant that you and Brooklyn can go to."

Quinn blinked at the meager pile, "There should be an envelope in there too, Santana..."

Brooklyn found the envelope and handed it to Santana. "Thanks," Santana said as she opened it and looked at the check before looking up at Quinn. "Quinn.. I've only been working for a few months."

"Christmas bonus," she shrugged. "Everyone in the office gets them when things are going well, which they are, so why should you be left out?"

Santana blinked away the tears that had gathered in her eyes, "Thank you." She managed to get out as she helped Brooklyn get the tube in her stocking open. It had a Muppets coloring book and a new set of crayons.

"Thank you," Santana mouthed to Rachel and Quinn as she watched her daughter introduce the horse toy to her Bumble.

Rachel just smiled, happy to watch the little girl enjoying the simple gifts. Quinn shrugged and offered Santana a lopsided smirk, mouthing "you're welcome."

"Did you get to the bottom of the stocking?" Rachel asked the little girl. "Is everything out?"

Brooklyn turned it over and smiled seeing the bright colored orange rolled out with a little baggie of gummy candies and a couple of small books with bright colored pictures. "Fruits, books and candy!" she squealed in delight. "Mommy! Santa brought me candies, he don't know you don't let me has them! Can I still keep?"

"Yes, Brooke." Santana chuckled, as she took a moment to read the ingredients to make sure no tree nuts were present. "You can keep them, but only one a day." Brooklyn nodded and smiling excitedly because Santa broke her mom's rules.

"They're actually vegan," Rachel murmured softly to Santana. "And made with natural flavorings and sweeteners, nothing artificial. _And_ they're from a nut-free facility, though I didn't know how important that was when I acquired them."

"Thank you." Santana said, not used to someone but her caring about the fact Brooklyn had allergies. "Not even her babysitter pays that much attention." She said as she pulled her daughter on her lap. "Oh hey there are presents from me and Brooke under the tree for you two."

"There are?" Rachel looked at Quinn curiously as the blonde headed over to the tree to retrieve them.

"See?" Quinn smirked, picking them up. "Told you we needed a tree."

Brooklyn clapped as she saw them, "I helped!" she explained as she hugged her horse toy.

"Then I suppose I have to accept," Rachel smiled at the little girl, though she wasn't at all used to accepting gifts on Christmas any more. Carefully peeling back the paper to save it as Quinn sat back down on the sofa, she smiled at the shallow box. "I wonder what's in here," she murmured pulling the lid off, "Oh, wow. Quinn, look!" She held up the relatively neatly colored drawings she found nestled on top of the set of vintage hair hair accessories in the box. "I think I'll have to frame these."

"Really!" Brooklyn gasped, "You likes them?" she crawled over to Rachel and looked at the pictures in the box.

"I like them a whole lot," Rachel smiled down at her. "No one's ever colored me a picture before."

"I color lots of pictures." Brooklyn said with a smile, "I color these cause you look like the princess." She pointed to Belle on the page. "I didn't know you yet," She said to Quinn, "But mommy said you had yellow hair and looked like Cinderella."

"Thank you, Brooklyn," Rachel smiled down at her. "I've never been so proud to be considered ethnically white before," she chuckled wryly, looking over at Santana.

"They're very nice, Brooklyn," Quinn agreed, smiling over at her. "Thank you. And this is a wonderful photo album, Santana," she breathed, looking it over. "Where did you find it?"

Santana rolled her eyes. "At this awesome vintage store in the Bronx." Santana smiled, "We find lots of cool stuff there."

"You'll have to show me sometime," she smiled at her friend. "I love old things like this."

"I thought you would," Santana said as she gathered their stocking items up and put them back inside their stockings. "Brooklyn, remember we need to go to church today alright? So don't get to wrapped up in playing with Rachel."

"Hey," Rachel pouted. "We're just discussing the merits of crayons over colored pencils. Not _playing_."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Sure you are. I've got church soon too. See you later for dinner, Rach?"

"I guess. Pang's again?" she asked with a lopsided smile.

"Where else?" she laughed, getting up and hugging her friend.

Santana finished gathering their items up and putting them in their bags. "Alright beautiful girl, give hugs and kisses to everyone," she said as she pulled Quinn into a hug. "Thank you," Santana whispered as she hugged her friend.

"Any time," Quinn whispered back, hugging her close. "You're one of my best friends, Santana. You need anything, just ask, okay?"

"Merry Christmas," Santana said with a smile. She switched with her daughter to hug Rachel. "Thanks for everything, it's been amazing."

"You are absolutely welcome, Santana," Rachel replied, hugging back. "And consider yourself and your daughter welcome in my home whenever. It's been a delight having you here."

Santana smiled and pulled away. "I'll see after Brooklyn's birthday. Enjoy your days off... let me know if you need anything."

"Just one," she smiled lopsidedly, "do you think Quinn and I might be allowed to stop by to wish Brooklyn a happy birthday? We won't bring anything if you don't want us too..."

"She's going to have big news, so please come," Santana smirked at her, "and no, I'm not telling you what it is beforehand," She said as she looked over at her kid. "Brooklyn, backpack on okay?" She turned back to Rachel. "Just come by in the afternoon."

"Are gifts allowed or not?" she asked, teasing. "Nothing big. Just a book or two like the ones in her stocking."

"That's fine. I got her some painting stuff so none of that and nothing like electronic or whatever," Santana whispered. "But if you feel you must bring her something go ahead."

"Electronics?" Rachel looked appalled. "She's only going to be _five_ , Santana. That's far too young for such things. At five, my entertainment was dance and singing. I'll talk to Quinn and we'll get her some children's books together. Or would you prefer a gift card to a used bookstore so she can select her own?"

"I'd prefer if you picked something for her," she said. "Gift cards are a very abstract thing to a kid. She'll want to unwrap something."

"Alright. I can do that." Rachel smiled. "Thank you again for coming and don't forget the food! Please, it'll just be thrown out if you don't take some."

"Alright, alright," she said as she headed into the kitchen and took the some of the portioned out leftovers and headed to the door with Brooklyn. "See you."

"Bye," Brooklyn smiled and waved before walking out of the apartment with her mom.

"That was nice," Rachel smiled at the door with a pleased nod. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," Quinn reassured, giving her a hug. "Thanks for inviting them. I was right about Mike though."

She rolled her eyes. "Leave that alone, Quinn. There's no point in involving him now. She clearly doesn't want him involved."

"Yeah," Quinn shrugged, "but it's still... I kinda feel bad for him. He has a kid he doesn't even know about."

"Quinn," Rachel chided softly, "let's let Santana handle this. You know the circumstances were bad and is it worth messing his marriage to Tina up over?"

"What happens when Brooklyn starts asking questions?" Quinn sighed as she opened the door. "Alright, I'll call you later for dinner."

"That's up to Santana," Rachel insisted. "I'll see you later, Quinn." Leaning up on her tiptoes she kissed her cheek. "Enjoy your service."

"Do people actually enjoy church?" Quinn asked with a laugh as she headed out the door.

Rachel just shook her head with a smile as she locked the door and started tidying up her apartment.


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you sure this is the right place, Rach?" Quinn asked dubiously, looking at the rundown brownstone the taxi pulled up in front of.

Rachel nodded, looking between her phone and the worn bronze-ish letters above the front door. "No, this is it. Seventeen Eighty-six. She's in the basement apartment according to her text." Paying the cabbie, she got out with the small gift bag of carefully wrapped children's books. "It's an okay enough neighborhood, I suppose," she whispered, looking around nervously.

"For a homeless person," Quinn muttered, getting out and letting the cab leave before grabbing Rachel's arm and hauling her down the stairs to the basement apartment's door. Knocking, she called out. "San? You there?"

Santana came to the door and opened it. She smiled tiredly and let them in, "Did you find the place okay? I know it's the Bronx so... not your normal stomping grounds." Santana said nervously. She had spent all night cleaning and making the apartment as presentable as she could.

"It's fine," Rachel smiled brightly. "Can we come in? We come bearing gifts for the birthday girl!" She held up the bag.

"Yes, please." She said as she moved aside to let them in. Brooklyn was sitting on the floor building a tower with her legos. "Brooke, you have visitors!" Santana called over to her as she took Quinn and Rachel's jackets.

"I do?" Brooklyn asked as she looked up. She beamed when she saw the two women and she go up. She ran over to them, pushing her hair out of her eyes when she stopped. She had on a pair of overalls and a black long sleeved shirt with a cartoon panda peaking out over the denim fabric. "Hi! You came for my birthday?" she asked hopefully.

"We did!" Rachel grinned kneeling down to her height. "Hi, Brooklyn."

"Good to see you again, Brooklyn," Quinn smiled from behind Rachel, giving Santana a hug. "You okay? You look tired."

"Long night," she said, hugging her friend back. "But, I'm fine." She ran her hand through her hair and smiled.

Brooklyn wrapped her arms around Rachel and squealed, "You came! It's normally me and mommy! But, now you came for my birthday!"

"Of course we did," Quinn murmured, tousling her hair gently as Rachel hugged her. "You and your mom are our friends, right?"

"Friends." Brooklyn said, "Like me and Pedro?" She asked, "But he's not nice to me."

"No, different, Brooke." Santana said, "Real friends that make you happy and eat birthday cake with!"

"Your mom's right," Rachel smiled, standing up. "I promise that I'll do my best not to be mean to you ever, okay?"

"Me too," Quinn smiled, losing herself for a moment in wondering what it would be like to share moments like this with Beth.

Santana rubbed Quinn's back, knowing that this was a big thing for her to be apart of this. She saw Brooklyn take Rachel's hand and drag her over to her new box of Legos she got for Christmas. "Want some tea?" Santana offered to Quinn. "Eggnog? With rum?"

"Rum, please?" she asked gratefully, shaking her head as she watched Rachel cheerfully indulge in playing with the little girl. "I do not know where she gets that energy."

"Me either." Santana said as she went into the kitchen with Quinn and grabbed out two glasses. She poured the eggnog and added a splash of rum to both. She handed one to Quinn before taking her own and sitting down at the table. "How are you?"

"Okay," she rolled her neck, "holidays are crazy at the office. You ever want some extra cash, let me know. I could always use a hand with interviews and vetting and you've usually had good, trustworthy judgment when it comes to people."

"I always need extra cash," Santana said. "But, yeah let me know whenever I can lend a hand," she added before taking sip of her drink. Santana rubbed her eyes and looked over at Brooklyn and Rachel playing. "Rachel is surprisingly good with kids."

"Sometimes I wonder if she's not leading a secret life as a kindergarten teacher on the side," Quinn joked. "She likes them." Glancing at Santana, she whispered, "Probably because they're actually smaller than her. Well... most of them anyway."

"I heard that, Quinn!" Rachel called, but didn't look up from where she was helping Brooklyn play with Legos.

Santana laughed softly. "She's insane," she said as she shook her head with a smile. She watched the sad smile that Quinn tried to hide when she watched Brooklyn. "You miss her, huh?"

"Who?" she asked softly, though she knew who Santana was talking about. She sighed, taking a sip. "It's hard not to."

"I can't even imagine," Santana said softly. "I thought a lot about you and her during all of this," she admitted. "I thought about what I saw you go through."

"Nothing compared to what you must have," she shook her head. "I had lots of people around to help me, even when I was completely out of line and crazy on hormones. You did it all alone and more than that, you _kept_ your baby girl," she looked at Santana, "I don't know if I could have done even half as well as you have in your place."

"I didn't have the choice to keep her or not, honestly." Santana said, "I thought about it... but an a-abortion cost too much money and I was underage." She took a breath, "And I tried to ignore it until it was too late and I was in labor. I didn't have someone to adopt her."

"I hadn't even started looking for someone to adopt Beth after the thing with Mr. Schue fell through," she shrugged. "I lucked out so much when Shelby stepped up... I should have known she was just pulling another hurt Rachel move though."

"Look, I know she's a cunt for doing what she did to Rachel... and the fact she slept with Puck and cut you out." Santana said, "But, if it's worth anything she's a good mom from what I saw. When she was my coach, she would always talk about her. You made the right choice, Quinn. I know it must hurt like hell... but you made the right choice."

"I know," she whispered, looking down into her glass. She sighed softly, "I just really miss her..."

"I can understand that. You carried her for nine months. She lived under your heart." Santana smiled, "It's kind of the most amazing thing ever... and the fact you gave her up must be like breaking your heart. But, look at you. You got to go to college, get a great job. You wouldn't have had that if you kept her."

"But I would have had her," she shrugged, turning the glass in her hands. "I envy you sometimes, San. You've got this amazing little girl, and yeah, I know it had to be hard as hell, but you always had her to help you through it. Sometimes I just think... maybe I could have done it, you know? Maybe I could have kept her and still done okay. My mom would have helped... you guys in Glee... I could have done it, don't you think?"

"I think you could have... but would it have been good for Beth? To live with you and your mom? To be in Lima forever? To have _Puck_ in her life." Santana sighed, "I think that you did the right thing, Quinn." She reached over and took Quinn's hand. "I think that you made the right choice."

"Puck ended up in her life anyway," Quinn muttered bitterly. "I was just the spoiled white girl, _remember_?" She shook her head, "Whatever. It's in the past and it's not like I can do anything to change any of it anyway."

"Stop that." Santana said softly, "You're not spoiled, and I know that it hurts but at some point you're going to have to forgive yourself. You did what was right for Beth."

"I know, Santana," she grumbled, taking another slug of her drink. "Trust me, I _know_."

"At least you were responsible," Santana laughed sadly, "I'm just a selfish little girl... I should have been brave enough to give her better..."

Quinn carefully set her glass down and stared at it, blinking back the sting of tears. "What do you want me to say? That it's okay, Santana? That, hey, at least you're not like me, drinking yourself stupid like your mom used to and yelling at your girlfriend nearly every night until even that gets destroyed? I gave up my child, Santana, and there is nothing I regret more in my life." She sighed softly, "You didn't. Please don't talk to me about responsibility or bravery. I wasn't brave signing my child over to a woman who gleefully abandoned her own and I sure as hell wasn't responsible either."

"Okay." Santana said, not looking up at Quinn. "I get it, I'll stop talking now."

She sighed and rubbed at her face, "That's not what I mean, Santana. I... just... can you please just try to imagine yourself in my place? Imagine how it would feel to have given Brooklyn away to a total stranger just hours after you got to hold her for the first time. And then imagine someone who has a sweet little girl telling you you did the right thing. Maybe you did. But it still hurts."

"I get that, Quinn... I do, okay?" Santana sighed, "Do you not think I wake up every day regretting the selfish decision I made? That a broke 18 year old should not be allowed to keep a child? That I wasn't strong enough to tell the hospital that I needed help, that I didn't have anyone to help me with her." Santana blinked back tears, "If you even think you could have done this with out regretting everything and knowing you can't give her everything she wants without it killing you inside, then you're a better mother than I am."

"I'm not, but... I'll never know, will I?" She shrugged finally looking at Santana and smiling lopsidedly. "There's regrets on both sides, San. But you have help now. Look at that little idiot over there with your girl. She is the most... _stupidly_ loyal person I have ever met. I can promise you without even asking her that if Brooklyn needs something, she will walk over fire and broken glass to get it for her. And frankly," she took a deep breath and brought her gaze back to Santana from where she'd been looking at Rachel and Brooklyn play, "so will I."

"I know." Santana took a breath. "I just... I thought it would get easier as she got older, but it's getting harder if anything." She closed her eyes for a moment, "I called you..."

Quinn looked confused. "You did? When?" She fumbled for her phone, scrolling through the missed calls, "I don't see any missed calls from you..."

"Five years ago..." She admitted, "When I had my first contraction."

The phone nearly tumbled from her fingers as she remembered getting woke up in the middle of the night by a call from Santana that disconnected almost as soon as she picked the phone up. "T-that _was_ you? I thought it was a dream, it didn't even connect... I tried calling you back, but it just went to voicemail..."

"Yeah... I kinda fell after the second contraction and my phone fell off the bridge." She sighed, "I had called my mom to tell her that the baby was coming and she told me never to call again." She licked her lips and looked away, "I wanted someone there and I remembered how it was scary when you had Beth, but I kinda wanted everyone waiting for me in the lobby... it's stupid."

"I would have come," Quinn assured her. "Hell, _Rachel_ would have come if we'd just known where to find you. We were roommates the first year in college. And you know she would have gotten Kurt and Blaine there too."

"The homo-twins hate me," she reminded Quinn, "and I thought you were at Yale and I was scared and foolish."

"Not foolish," she insisted. "Even if I _had_ been at Yale, Rachel would have been here. I'd have called her and told her where you were to keep an eye on you until I could get a train or a bus, or, hell, _hitch_ a ride down here. I wish you hadn't dropped the phone, San..."

"Me too, but I guess I wanted to prove to everyone I could do it." She shrugged looking up, "Enough with the old shit, okay? Everything is fine now."

"Exceedingly so, don't you think, Brooklyn?" Rachel asked with a cheerful grin as she carried Brooklyn over to the table, "I believe we have exhausted the possibilities of the Lego building apparatus for now. Could I suggest some other means of entertainment or would you prefer gifts?"

"I was thinking gifts then cake. Or cake then gifts? It's your birthday, you get to pick." Santana smiled as she kissed her daughter's nose.

Brooklyn looked between the three women excitedly. "Cake! No, Gifts! No, _both_!"

Quinn laughed. "I don't think you can do both, sweetie. Your presents would get all messy with cake. You don't want that do you?"

"How about cake first?" Santana said as got up and picked up the cake off the fridge. It was shaped like a star and had _Happy Birthday Brooklyn_ written on it. The cake had a candle shaped like the number five in the middle. Santana lit the candle and put it on the table and put down plates. Santana took Brooklyn on her lap and smiled. "Happy Birthday to you!" She sang with the other two women, once they finished Brooklyn blew the candle out and clapped.

"Mommy! I'm five!" She giggled as Santana cut the cake. "I'm big girl."

"Yes, you are!" Santana laughed, "Rachel, if open the fridge there is a vegan piece of cake in there for you."

"That's alright, Santana, you didn't have to go to such measures," Rachel reassured her, blushing slightly at the trouble her lifestyle tended to cause.

"Everyone gets cake." Santana smiled as she watched Brooklyn tuck into her slice. "So, when everyone's done Brooklyn gets to open presents and gets her big news."

"Big news, huh?" Quinn murmured with a little smile, eating a small piece of cake. "Sounds exciting."

"It is." Santana smiled, Brooklyn nodded and shoveled more cake into her face.

"Slow down, Brooklyn, we're not in a hurry," Rachel soothed, patting her back gently.

"I like cake," Brooklyn mumbled.

Santana laughed and got up and gathered the gifts up and put them on the table. She grabbed a wet cloth and brought it to the little girl's face when she finished eating. "Alright. Want to open presents from Rachel and Quinn or mommy first?"

The little girl looked between the women and her mom and bit her lip, her face furrowed with worry. "Mommy, is it okay if I's open they's first?"

Santana smiled and pulled her now clean daughter onto her lap. "Of course, it's your birthday," she said as she kissed the girl's shoulder.

"Yay!" she clapped, bouncing in her mom's lap happily.

Quinn chuckled softly and pushed the bag Rachel had carried in across the table. "Here you go, sweetie."

"They're from both of us," Rachel smiled at her, finishing her bit of cake and pushing it aside to focus her attention on the birthday girl.

Brooklyn took the paper out carefully, "Books!" She giggled, "Mommy! They got me books! How'd you know I like to read?" She asked with a big grin. "They have kittens and lions!" she pointed out one to her mom.

"That's awesome, babe. They could just tell how smart you are." Santana smiled and watched her kid go through the selection one by one.

"They're learn to read books," Rachel explained. "So you can practice on your own outside of school and be ahead of everyone."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Like Rachel was. Try not to be as annoying as she was about it, though being Santana's kid, I doubt you could be." She smirked at the girl's mom.

Santana smiled. "She can actually already read some in English and Spanish." She said softly, "She's a smarty pants."

"I don't go to school. I go to pre-school." Brooklyn pouted at Rachel.

"So?" Rachel smirked at her, reaching over to tousle her hair. "That's no reason to get behind right?"

"Rachel, seriously, stop trying to turn her into your clone," Quinn groused softly, but she was smiling as she watched Brooklyn ooh and ah over the books they'd picked out.

"She's actually way farther than her class." Santana smiled, "She got asked to test for the gifted and talented program a few months ago." She said proudly, before pulling up the larger box on to the table.

"We waiting on it." Brooklyn pouted. "Mommy, it's a _big_ box." Brooklyn smiled as she tore into the paper.

"Wow, really?" Rachel grinned. "That's amazing, Brooklyn! You and your mom must be proud."

"I'm very proud." Santana said knowingly, "Baby, open the box." She said as she helped the girl lift the lid off the gift. Inside was a brand new bright purple backpack and a set of school uniforms.

"Mommy?" Brooklyn asked, looking up hopefully. "School?"

"Yes, Brooklyn." Santana said with a smile. "You got in. You got really good scores on the test and they want you to start school in January."

Quinn's eyes widened. "Wow, Santana. Guess you can inherit brains if you get them from both sides," she teased.

Brooklyn pulled out one of the uniforms with an excited grin. "Can I try it on, Mommy? Can I?"

"Sure, go ahead, baby. Be careful." Santana warned as she helped her off her lap and watched her scamper into the bedroom. She smiled and looked back. "All she asked for for her birthday was to get to go to school," she said as she cleaned up the tissue paper. "She's a nerd."

"There's nothing at all wrong with a desire to learn, Santana," Rachel chided. "It's an important character trait and should be nurtured and supported. That ambition and drive is what got all of us out of Lima in the end. Even you, though you may argue."

"Yeah yeah. I'm just fucking stoked my kid beat out like ninety percent of all the other little bastards the took the test," she said proudly. "She's smart."

"Indeed," Rachel smiled at her, helping clean up. "She seems incredibly talented."

At that moment, Brooklyn came out in her new skirt, polo and blazer. "Look at me, Mommy! School!"

Santana nearly started crying when she saw how excited her daughter looked. She furiously wiped her eyes and got down on her knees to fix her daughter's collar. "You look so grown up," she whispered as she kissed her girl's head.

Brooklyn seemed worried at that, reaching up to hug her mom. "Still your baby?" she asked, not liking to see her mom nearly in tears, "Not all growned yet?"

"You are always my baby," Santana said softly, kissing her nose. "Always and forever."

"Uh-huh," she nodded, hugging her, "Don't cry, Mommy. It's okay. Friends here and I give you hugs!"

Santana giggled into her daughter's shoulder. "I'm just proud of you," she assured her before picking her up and bringing her back to the table. "Mommy got you another present."

" _Another_ one?" Her eyes were wide. "Really?"

Quinn and Rachel laughed softly at her excited delight at the prospect of getting something else from her mom.

"Mmhmm," she smiled and pointed to the box. "Go for it, baby."

Brooklyn laughed and pulled the paper off as carefully as a five year old girl could. She bit her lip as she opened it, trying to hide a big smile. Her eyes got wide as she saw what was inside. "These are mine, Mommy? Really?"

"What is it, sweetie?" Quinn asked curiously, an arm slung around Rachel's shoulders to keep her from trying to see before Brooklyn was ready to share.

Brooklyn smiled and tilted the box. "Paints! I has paints." She did a happy little dance in her chair in excitement. "I wanted them!"

"Oh, that's wonderful, Brooklyn," Rachel cheered, clapping happily along with the girl. "Are you good at painting?"

"Rachel, she's _five_ ," Quinn muttered, mildly exasperated with her friend's exuberance.

"I like it." Brooklyn smiled and hopped back onto her mom's lap and snuggled into her arms.

"I'm glad, Brooke." Santana kissed her head and smiled and wrapped her arms around the girl. "I like to make you happy."

"You make me lots of happy, Mommy," she whispered into her mom's neck, "I love you. Thank you for the presents and school."

"I love you too, little one," she said as she cuddled her closer. She closed her eyes just enjoying the moment and forgetting that Rachel and Quinn were there.


	9. Chapter 9

Things had been going well.

Brooklyn had started school and was enjoying it from all reports. Quinn had taken on a new client but it had required her to fly out to LA for a couple of days to negotiate with his manager. Rachel's show had _finally_ opened and the reviews might not have exactly been rave ones, but they weren't bad either for the first couple of weeks. Santana had only had to yell at her twice to keep her from flipping out from the stress.

So all in all, things were pretty good.

Right up until a yell for help echoed through the backstage from the stage door. Eric, who'd been guarding the door, was struggling with a couple burly men reeking of alcohol and determined to either break in or just beat him to a bloody pulp - no one was really sure which. He'd already taken a couple of solid blows to the face and body and was barely holding his own as he yelled back into the theater.

Rachel had been ready to run out herself before Santana grabbed her and shoved her into her dressing room. "Stop it, Santana! Let me go! What's going on? If someone needs assistance, I have first aid training and can help!"

"Right because when there are drunken assholes throwing punches at our cop you wanna go play nursemaid." Santana rolled her eyes as she stood in front of the door. "Do you want your nose to get broken?"

Rachel gasped and covered her nose. "No! That would be terrible! What if they seriously hurt him? Shouldn't we at least call the police?"

"The other security guard called," Santana remarked, "As I was grabbing your crazy ass I heard them coming in." She said as she rolled her eyes at Rachel. "For sure we're getting a new security detail up in here. Fucking Eric is sleeping on the job again, letting drunk assed idiots inside."

"Santana, we can't just dictate things like that. I'm sure they -" she chided, only to jump when she was interrupted by a loud bang filtering in from outside the room. "Oh god, are they _inside_?!"

"Stay the hell in here okay?" Santana demanded as she headed out the door. She saw that the door had been closed and there were two police officers talking to Eric and a paramedic attending his visibly broken nose.

"Ma'am," one of the officers - a taller man with his dark hair neatly combed and a faint accident that was decidedly not New York - looked over at her, "just stay inside for a bit now. We don't want any of these hooligans taking a swing at any of you ladies, alright? I'll come give you a knock when we've got them taken off to booking. Alright?"

"Look, flat-foot." Santana growled, "This idiot let those idiots into the building. Just get them the hell out of here before I start getting complaints from managers." She glared at him before heading back into the dressing room.

"Fucking cops," Santana mumbled, before slamming the dressing room door closed. "Why aren't you changed out of your costume yet?"

"Because I can't reach the zipper," Rachel grumbled, still reaching over her shoulders and hopping as if it would make her arms longer as she fumbled for the zipper hidden in a bit of frippery on her back. "Can you help?"

The taller girl walked over and quickly unzipped it. "What do you want for dinner tonight? I can order you something for when you get home."

"It's okay," Rachel shrugged, getting out of the dress and hanging it up before digging for her regular clothes, "I can just have a salad or something later. Is Eric alright?"

"Dumbass has a cracked face," she said as she gathered up the files she had been working on while Rachel performed. "Are you sure, I can get you that nasty vegan sushi if you want."

"I'm sure, Santana. You don't actually _have_ to take care of me all the time," she grumbled, smirking slightly. "Have you heard from Quinn? Wasn't her flight supposed to be landing earlier?"

"Yeah, she should be home nowish." Santana said as she checked her watch. "I said I'd get her dinner if she wanted it because God knows she doesn't have any food since she's been gone for two weeks." Santana looked over at Rachel, "Or maybe I should just drop you off at her place and you can go see your lady."

"My lady?" Rachel cocked a brow at Santana, before returning to dressing and gathering her things to leave. "Santana, how many times do we have to go over this? Quinn and I are just friends. We are both fully and painfully aware of how destructive we are as lovers and that will not be occurring. I just wanted to know if she'd landed yet or if she'd experienced some sort of delay. I'd wonder the same about you if you were flying you know."

Santana shrugged. "Alright, if you keep saying so." She shoved her stuff into her bag, "But I'm not blind I know how you all act around each other."

"Well, of course, we're casually intimate around each other, Santana." She shrugged. "We're comfortable and we have been far closer in the past. I'm sure if she and you shared a romantic past, you'd be very easy with each other as well."

"Maybe," Santana shrugged, "but you two are different." She picked up her bag and headed to the door. "Come on, shorty."

"That nickname is incredibly insipid, but," she cocked her head to the side, thinking about it before grabbing her bag and following, "I suppose it's a marked improvement over the nicknames you once bestowed upon me."

"You pay me now, makes me less likely to harass you." Santana said as she looked at the cop and raised an eyebrow. "Everything set, Serpico?"

"Now that depends," he stepped back to get a better look at her. "Are you trying to tell me I'm gonna get shot sticking my nose in cop corruption or that I'm a honest one? Cause things being set could sway depending on if you're insulting me or not."

"Santana," Rachel moaned, " _please_ don't bait the police officers. I do not much want to ever explain to your daughter why you had to be bailed out..."

"The meaning is yet to be determined," Santana smirked, looking him over. "Shouldn't you be kicking crackheads off the streets and arresting hard working hookers?" She asked him, obviously challenging him but with reason. She and Quinn had talked about getting a new security team and had thought about hiring an off duty officer.

He chuckled. "Shouldn't _you_ be wrangling your miniature actress off somewhere? Someone might mistake her for a kid out here and then I'll need to write up someone for pedophilia charges and that's just no fun at all."

"Dude, why'd you gotta take it to lustin' after kids." She made a disgusted face, "You nasty."

"Pardon me for damaging your delicate sensibilities," he smirked at her, "but you _did_ just have two brawlers try to bust in your back door here. And you can't say a normal John would go after your friend, now can you? Dressed like that, she might as well be looking for one out here," he added, nodding at Rachel's almost indecently short skirt.

"What?" she asked, coming up and looking between the two of them confusedly. "What's going on? Is it safe to leave?"

"I don't know," Santana said, looking at Rachel's legs. "It's the middle of fucking winter and I think you stole one of my kid's skirts." She raised her eyebrow. "Go put some fucking pants on, damn." She demanded, before turning back to the cop. "And for you, she does have a rep of luring mentally handicapped men to her."

Rachel stepped back, stung. "What is your problem, Santana? I haven't done anything to incur your spite." She headed back to the dressing room to throw on her yoga pants under her skirt, "I'll find my own way home if you're going to be mean."

"After two crazies bust in here, I'm taking you home," Santana insisted. "So just stop. It's the middle of fucking January, I don't want you to get sick okay!"

"No, you just want to insult me with your new friend!" Rachel snapped, jerking her coat on. "Well go ahead and _enjoy_ yourself. Don't stop for my sake!"

"Ladies, now, come on," the officer held out his hands placatingly, "there's no need to fight... it was just an innocent joke. I apologize if I caused any upset."

"Yeah, Rachel." Santana sighed. "Look, cop dude... I need to get her home, and I gotta get my kid. Can we bounce?"

"Yes, I'm sorry if my joking around has caused you to run late. Look," he glanced over at his partner who was still busy interviewing Eric and the other hands that had helped to subdue the brawlers, "let me get you an escort home. We don't know why those two targeted this place yet, so just to be safe..."

"Hey, can you send a copy of the report to our supervisor?" Santana asked before reaching into her bag and pulling out one of Quinn's cards. "She works as Rachel's manager and I'll let her know but I'm sure she'd wanna talk to the cops who handled it."

He smiled at her, grateful for the reprieve. "I'll take her a copy myself once I get off-duty, ma'am. Now, about that escort. Can I convince you or not?"

Rachel just shook her head tiredly. "I just want to go home," she muttered plaintively, shifting her bag on her shoulder.

Santana reached over and held Rachel's wrist. "I can get her home, it's cool." She said as she nodded towards the other two cops. "Come on, Rach." Santana said as she tugged the other woman lightly.

She shuffled closer. "Sorry. It's just be a terribly long day."

"Yeah it has," Santana said softly as she lead them out the door before hailing a cab. She slid in next to Rachel. "Do you mind if I grab Brooke before I drop you off? It will be like three seconds, she's on the way to your place."

"Could you two just stay?" Rachel smiled up hopefully. "We could order in and watch a movie later or something..." After a moment she changed her mind. "I'm sorry. You don't have to. I'm sure you'd rather get Brooklyn home."

"No," Santana said as she gave the address of Brooklyn's sitters to the cab driver as they got in once he pulled up. "We can come over, I'm sure Brooklyn will want her cuddle buddy. I don't wanna make her ride the subway this late at night with me anyway, so that would be awesome if we could stay."

Rachel smiled, brightening up. "Oh, thank you, Santana! You have no idea how wonderful that is. It's just been so lonely in my apartment lately and I could really use the company."

Santana nodded and told the driver to wait as she quickly ran into the building. She came out nearly three minutes later, Brooklyn in her arms and the child's backpack draped over her shoulder. She carefully got into the car and smiled before kissing the girl's face. "Wake up, beautiful girl," she whispered after instructing the driver to Rachel's apartment.

Brooklyn yawned sleepily, rubbing at her eyes. "Mommy?" she asked softly. "Going home now?"

"Babe we're gonna have a sleep over at Rachel's tonight, okay?" she said softly, stroking the girl's back.

"Rachie?" she mumbled, making grabby hands for the other woman sleepily. "Where?"

Rachel laughed softly and reached over to take her hand. "Right here, Brooklyn. You want to stay at my place tonight?"

"Uh-huh," she murmured, not looking up. "Eats?" Her nose wrinkled, remembering when she'd asked to try some tofu and quickly regretted it. "Funny tasty Fufu stuff again?"

Santana chuckled, "No baby, we can have pizza or something okay?" She smiled and hugged her daughter tighter. "But, yes we will eat and you can take a bath then go to bed okay?"

"Okay," she nodded. "Snuggle with you and Rachie? I like that. I'm all warm and toasty."

"We can see, okay?" she said not wanting to impose on Rachel. "But let's get you inside," Santana said as she paid the cab fare out of her transportation stipend for work and got out of the car and offered her hand to Rachel. She smiled when Brooklyn wrapped her legs around her waist tighter and then hid her face in Santana's neck to hide from the cold.

"Come on, let's get inside where it's warm, okay?" Rachel smiled at her guests, heading for the door and digging her keys out to let them in. "Where do you want to get pizza from, Santana? And don't worry, I can just get a small with no cheese or meat and add my Daiya when it arrives."

"I don't care." She shrugged as she settled Brooklyn down on the couch when they got into the apartment. The little girl curled into a ball and yawned, her thumb into her mouth as she let her eyes fall closed. "Brooklyn, stay awake please."

"Okay," Rachel shrugged, flipping through the folder of menus to find one of the nearer pizza places. After calling and ordering a couple of pies to be delivered, she came out to the living room. "Hey, Brooklyn, want to tell me about your day at school?"

The little girl rolled over on her back and nodded as she looked up to Rachel. "It was busy," she said tiredly.

Santana sighed sadly hating how tired her daughter was at the end of the day. She was still small and gave out so much energy at school that she was beat by the end of the day when Santana picked her up from the babysitter's. She brought the little girl a cup of juice and worked on taking her shoes and tights off her as she talked to Rachel.

"Really?" Rachel smiled, trying to keep her attention. "Did you learn anything new today?"

"I had music class today," Brooklyn said as she wiggled her body as Santana pulled off the tights and socks. "Learned piano stuffs."

"Oh? Like what?" she brightened. "I have a keyboard if you'd ever like to practice playing piano. I love music. It's kind of my life," she teased, nudging Santana with her toe. "Isn't that right, Santana?"

"It's pretty much all you talk about," Santana said as she sat down and put Brooklyn's legs in her lap. "But, that's awesome, Brooke. Did you like it?"

"Yes," she said as she sat up and stretched. "I missed naptime today, mommy." She said, "I was playing and I wanted to plays with the piano and then dance with my new friend."

"That's not good. Growing little girls needs naptime," Santana explained. "Rachel still takes a naptime to keep her energy up, isn't that right, Rachel?"

Rachel blushed but nodded. "In my defense, I'm working very hard when I'm on the stage and rest is dearly appreciated when I have a bit of downtime between shows. Besides, Brooklyn, you can always come borrow my keyboard when I'm working and your mom is with you, okay?"

"Only if you take your nap," Santana added, "Right?" She looked at Rachel.

She nodded solemnly. "Absolutely. You should do as your mother says, Brooklyn. She wants you to grow up big and healthy like her, okay?"

"Okay." Brooklyn nodded and leaned against her mom as the buzzer on the door went off. "Foods?"

"Yes, I'll be right back with it, so do you want to help your mom get plates and napkins so we can eat?" Rachel asked her, getting up and getting her wallet to go pay the delivery man.

Brooklyn nodded and got up and followed Santana into the kitchen. She grabbed the paper towels and followed Santana back into the living room. "Mommy? Can I take a bubble bath?"

"I don't know. Rachel doesn't have the same stuff we do at home," Santana explained as she set down the plates and knives.

"What's that?" Rachel asked, coming back in with two boxes and heading to the counter with the smaller one after setting the larger one on the table for Santana and Brooke to start eating. She got the Daiya out of the fridge and spread it over the small pizza in the box before slipping it into her toaster over to melt the "cheese".

Brooklyn sat patiently and waited for Rachel. "Mommy says you don't have bathy bubbles," she said with a pout. "But, it's okay."

Santana rolled her eyes and picked a piece out and cut it smaller for her daughter and waited for it to cool. "She can bathe without bubbles."

Rachel glanced over at Santana confusedly. "But I have bubble bath, Santana. Probably not the kind you're used to, but you can try it if you'd like," she offered, coming over with her now more veganized pizza on her plate. "It's under the sink, but careful, it's really foamy without a lot added."

"Yay!" Brooklyn exclaimed. "Thank you, Rachie!" She smiled and looked up at her mom who slid her the plate with cut up pizza on it. Santana just shook her head and took a bite of her own.

"Thanks, Rachel, this is a good way to spend a Friday," Santana admitted as she finished chewing.

"No, thank you to you and Brooklyn for agreeing to stay. I was beginning to get a little stir crazy I'm afraid." She smiled sheepishly, taking a bite of a piece of her pizza after it cooled a little. "If I had to spend another night here by myself, who knows where I would have ended up. Last time I rode the subways until they stopped. _Not_ a good idea, might I add."

"Yeah, not ever a good idea." Santana smiled. "I used to work third shift, so when they'd be settling down I'd be going to work. It was a scary time."

"I don't even remember where I ended up but it took nearly an hour in a taxi and an absurdly large fare to get back home. I'm so lucky the driver took pity on me and stopped," she said with a shrug, taking a bite.

"Was that when you still lived with Q?" Santana asked as she nibbled on her slice.

"No... that was about three days before you showed up," she admitted with a blush. "I suppose it's kind of part of the reason Quinn was so adamant about my having an assistant. Keeping a leash on me so to speak."

"She worries." Santana shrugged. "She always has, even when we were little."

"It was fairly foolish," Rachel admitted with a shrug. "Brooklyn, how's your pizza?" she asked when she noticed the little girl nodding off a little.

"Yummy," she said as she pushed her mostly finished plate aside. "Mom? Bathtime?"

"Yeah," Santana said as she put her pizza down. "Sorry, let me get her bathed and bed and I can finish eating. It's a late night for her," she remarked as she picked up Brooklyn and carried her into the bathroom.

"It's okay," Rachel called, nibbling at her pizza. "You can put her in my bed, I don't mind."

"Thanks," Santana said as she closed the bathroom door. After getting her little one bathed and changed into pajamas she tucked her into Rachel's bed with her froggy toy and the blanket she got out of her backpack. She sang her a song then kissed her goodnight before slipping out of the room. Santana slid back into her spot on the couch and picked up her pizza again. "Sorry, duty calls. I hate having to keep her up this late."

Rachel laughed softly. "It's alright. She's your first priority. It's a good thing, Santana." She smiled at her, nibbling on her piece. "If you want to stay with her, I can sleep out here."

"I'll keep her on me if you wanna share the bed. I don't want to kick you out and Brooklyn won't roll around too much," Santana said as she finished her slice and picked at her child's leftovers.

"Oh, the bed is plenty large enough for all three of us, remember Christmas after all?" she reminded her with a smile, "I just didn't wish for you to feel uncomfortable by assuming you would be fine with sharing a bed with me."

Santana shrugged. "Dude, being in bed with you and Q is the closest I've been to an _intimate_ encounter in over five years."

"That's a shame," Rachel offered mildly around another bite of pizza. "You're obviously still an entirely attractive and desirable young woman, Santana."

The young mother just shrugged. "Eh... I'm not really what people my age are looking for and I'm not really into giving up time with my kid to prowl for sex. Even if I did, I wouldn't want to expose her to that. To getting attached and then the relationship ending."

"Again, I think it's a pity," she said with a shrug. "You deserve to be happy too, Santana. You deserve someone to help you with Brooklyn and hold you at night. I don't think that's too much to ask for. Do you?"

"I'm not gonna let someone get close and break her heart," Santana said, not really sure if she totally meant her daughter or if she was nervous for herself.

"Understandable." Rachel nodded, picking up her last slice. "Though I must say, if anyone hurts your daughter in any way, I'd want to hurt them myself. She's entirely too precious of a little girl to be harmed."

"Thanks, but I doubt I'd start to even look for someone until she's older anyway," she said as she ate some of a second piece. "It's not worth the heartache. What about you? You gonna date someday? Move on from the Fabray?"

Rachel laughed. "I've been on quite a few dates since Quinn and I decided to be just friends again, actually. Unfortunately few of my chosen paramours have been able to keep up with me." She smiled lopsidedly, picking at the piece in her hand, "Usually I'm dumped after one or occasionally two dates. I suppose I'm just not long term material at this stage of my life. Too high maintenance, I suppose."

"That sucks, you're kinda hot," Santana remarked as she finished her slice and put the box into the fridge. "But hey, gotta test drive some before you find the right fit I guess."

"You make it sound almost as if I've been allowing my dates into my bed," she chuckled wryly, "and that's hardly the case. Not for lack of desire, I might add, but certainly for lack of... durability for lack of a better word. If they don't wish to put even the effort for three dates into me, they don't earn even a chance for putting anything _else_ into me. It's just as well. I've become resigned to my bacheloress lifestyle." She offered a lopsided grin, helping to clean up.

"That sucks," Santana said. "I don't miss the dating shit, but I do miss the sex."

She laughed. "Yes. On that I can definitely agree. Before I indulged, I didn't know what there was to miss, now it can be an... _ache_ at times." She sighed, finishing cleaning up. "Want to head to bed? I'm sure I have something that will fit you if you'd like."

"If you don't mind... I can't really sleep in pants," she said with a blush. "I have on short things if you don't care that much I'm gonna just crash in them."

"If you want," she shrugged, "I've got some longer t-shirts I sleep in sometimes if that would work. Not that I would necessarily _mind_ you sleeping in scant garb, but after our conversation, that would be a _little_ awkward to wake up wrapped around you. I've been told I'm something of a instinctive cuddler after all."

Santana chuckled and carefully took off her pants and folded them. "A shirt would be great," she said as she headed into the bedroom.

"Sure." Rachel nodded, slipping into the bedroom behind her and retrieving a long t-shirt from her dresser with a picture of a kitten in a sleeping hat curled on a pillow on it and handed it to her. "This one's a bit more than knee length on me so it should be decent on you, don't you think?"

"That is an ugly shirt," she remarked as she took off her blouse and bra and pulled on the shirt. It hung at mid thigh and Santana shrugged before crawling into bed with her daughter and cuddling her. "Good night, Rachel."

"It's for sleeping, not wearing in public," Rachel chided gently, getting changed into a set of soft flannel pajamas before climbing in bed on the other side of Brooklyn. "Good night, Santana. Sweet dreams."

Santana let her arm drape over Brooklyn and squeezed Rachel's arm. "Night."

* * *

A soft knock came on Quinn's office door Monday morning. The police officer that broke up the incident at the theatre a few day's earlier had followed through on his promise of calling the name on the card Santana had given him and she had set up a meeting for Monday morning.

"Hi," he smiled a bit nervously, poking his head in the open door. "I'm Officer Singh, um... I mean Jay. Well, Ajay, actually... I just go by Jay, you know? Um... yeah. Anyway, I promised your employee at the theater I'd bring you a copy of the report?" He held up the folder with a sheepish smile.

Quinn looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah," she said as she stood up, smoothing out her pencil skirt as she moved. "I'm Quinn Fabray," she moved towards the door and offered out her hand. "I'm the actress's manager." she indicated, "It's nice to meet you, Officer Singh."

He took her hand, careful not to squeeze too hard as he shook. For a moment he marveled at the way her hand seemed so small in his, but he quickly shook that thought off. "The pleasure's mine, Ms. Fabray. Your employee's quite the little spitfire, though I'm afraid I got off on the wrong foot teasing the little one."

"Everyone teases her." She shrugged, not too concerned. "It's kind of mine and her assistant's pastime," she added with a smile. "So, Officer," she said, her eyes quickly roaming over his uniform before coming back up to his eyes. Her cheeks broke out in a slight blush as she realized she just checked him out. "Please sit down," she added as she headed back behind her desk. "Can you explain to me what happened?"

"To be honest, by the time I got there, the boys at the theater had things mostly in hand." He shrugged, taking a seat and resting his hat in his lap. "But from what we gathered, Eric - the man watching the back door - saw the two assailants coming down the alley, alerted by their raised voices. They appeared to be in some sort of argument when they got back to the door which quickly escalated to blows when Eric tried to get them to move on. He called for help after getting hit in the face and with the assistance of other theater employees managed to get the men restrained. It was fairly cut and dry, Ms Fabray."

"Where they trying to get into the theatre?" she asked as she marked down notes on her notepad to inform her boss and the theatre owners once she was finished with Ajay.

He shrugged, "We don't really know. The theater's not exactly on the typical route most drunks take, so it was a bit unusual that they made their way back there, but we can't say for sure if it was deliberate or not since they're insisting it wasn't."

"Would you suggest finding a new security detail?" she asked. "My bosses have been interested in looking into it and the theatre has been interested in hiring someone better than Eric for security as the show gets more acclaim."

"I'm not quite sure how qualified I am to suggest such a thing, ma'am," he admitted ruefully, "but I'm not sure Eric is precisely security beyond the sort that serves as a bouncer in a dive bar. Not to say he's not competent, but I think you might just want a bit more than just him at that entrance."

"What about you?" she asked. "I know a lot of officers do some extra work to get some cash for whatever it is you young cops do." She smirked, "Yankees tickets or whatever."

He raised a brow. "Pardon? Ma'am, sure I work a security detail here and there, concerts and such, but I don't have the sort of free time required to work a steady security position. I love my job with the force and I'm not going to jeopardize it to babysit a theater, I'm sorry."

"I understand," She said, "But maybe you could come by and check it out sometime? Maybe let your friends know that we might be hiring a few hours a night."

"Honestly? What you want is a professional firm," he said. "They'll know how many bodies you'll need and where to put them for best effect and minimal impact on our business. I'm just a beat cop, Ms Fabray. I'm pretty good at my job, but my job is more to clean up after a problem's happened rather than prevent it from happening. No offense, ma'am, but I don't have the training or experience for what you want, though it's quite a compliment to be offered out of the blue."

She shrugged. "I really just want a cop around to make me feel better about leaving my friends there," she said. "But thank you for your suggestions."

"You're welcome, ma'am." He smiled lopsidedly, offering his hand as he stood. "I'm sorry I'm not the man for the job. It sounds a fascinating one, but I patrol the theater district often enough though, so maybe I'll see you around?"

She stood up and nodded. "Yeah, I would like that," she said as she shook his hand. "Thank you for dropping the report by." Quinn tucked her hair behind her ear smiled up at him.

"It's been my pleasure," he assured her with a smile, tucking his hat under his arm. "I hope the next time we have the pleasure of meeting again it'll be under more appealing circumstances."

"I'm sure it will." She smiled and nodded. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Officer Singh."

"You as well," he nodded to her. "Tell your tiny friends to stay out of trouble, alright?" With a wink and a grin, he backed out of her office before turning and strolling off down the hall to continue on his patrol.

Quinn peeked her head out of her office to watch him walk away with a small smile.

"What you smiling at, Q?" Santana asked curiously, coming up the hall as he vanished in the elevator.

"Nothing," she raised a brow, "what are you doing here? Don't you have a midget to wrangle?"

"She's in voice lessons," Santana said as she came in and plopped down in the chair. "Why does it smell like a dude up in here..." The woman raised her eyebrow. "Fabray, have you taken a man?"

"Don't be absurd," Quinn huffed, rolling her eyes as she dropped into her chair. "Your cop from the other night came by to drop the police report off for the incident on Friday."

"Oh the cute young one?" she asked as she watched the woman with a teasing smirk. "Aw, Q, are you blushing? Do you have a lady hard on for the man in a uniform?"

"Santana, you are starting to grate." Quinn glared at her. "Can we drop this topic please? It's bad enough Rachel insists on trying to match me up with people. Do you have to too?"

Santana just chucked. "Whatever, Fabray." She smiled and watched Quinn. "She just doesn't want you to be a spinster and I just want someone I know to be getting laid."

"Ew." She rolled her eyes. "Why is it always about sex with you, Santana?" She narrowed her eyes with a smirk. "Or are you just trying to say you want to get in my pants, hmm?"

She smirked. "Maybe... or I'm just hoping that you'd tell me about the dirty details." She cocked her head to the side as she spoke.

Quinn just huffed a short laugh. "I always knew you were a pervert, Santana. Can't get anything in your pants but yourself so have to live vicariously though others, hmm?"

"Sadly, yes," Santana said as she looked up at Quinn. "When you have this long a dry spell, you'd be a perv too."

"Oh, I don't know about that," she flipped a pen idly around her fingers as she leaned back and watched Santana with an easy smirk, "I think you were this much of a perv even when you were getting laid on a regular basis."

"This is true." She smirked as she grabbed the schedule for the week off the blondes desk. "But I preferred sex on a regular basis."

"Mm, I happen to prefer _quality_ over quantity though." Quinn smirked, leaning forward again. "If it's bad, I don't want it."

"Truth." Santana smiled. "So, how was the sex with the midget?" she waggled her eyebrows luridly as she smirked.

"Do you _really_ want to know?" she asked, raising a brow challengingly as she smirked at her oldest friend.

"Yeah, kinda. I'd take money she's a freak." Santana smiled as she looked at her. "Come on tell me about your midget fucking."

Quinn laughed. "Oh, you have _no_ idea. Rach took the concept of experimenting to an entirely different level. Toys, scarves... she was pretty much game for anything once." She smirked, watching Santana. "And can I just say that that mouth that never shut up in Glee? Trust me, it does _amazing_ things."

Santana made a face. "I doubt that, she's probably all vanilla after fucking Finn in high school."

"Really?" Quinn smirked, "You think so?"

"Yep," she nodded, "You got nothing."

"Mmm," she leaned back in her chair, "you have no idea, do you. Once, after an entirely bad idea of agreeing to accompany her to an awards night for a film festival she won a small award for, she all but forced me to fuck her in the back of a taxi. Skirt up around her waist, panties pushed aside and thrusting three fingers in her tight, hot pussy as she pressed up against the door. The driver nearly drove off the road getting us home."

Santana blinked several times as she looked at Quinn. "I..." she said she tried to figure out what to come back at her with. "I... I doubt that." she finally got out.

Quinn shrugged. "I was a little angry and a bit more drunk than I should have been, so if you want proof, just look at her right breast next time she flashes you changing. There's a scar just above the nipple where I bit too hard and drew blood when we hit a pothole."

"I'm not looking at Berry's tit for your teeth mark!" Santana blanched. "God, I don't wanna see your branding!"

Quinn grinned at her. "I knew you didn't want details."

"God, I think I'm gonna be sick," she warned jokingly. "No offense, but you and Berry do not get my motor running."

"You're the one who wanted details," she pointed out mildly, smirking as she leaned back in her chair again.

"Whatever," she said, "just let me know when you start fucking again so I don't have to walk in on it."

Quinn raised a brow, smirk falling away. "That's not happening again, Santana. It was fun while it lasted, but Rachel and I are long finished."

"Okay, if you think so." She shrugged, not convinced at all. "So, about Rachel's week... Anything I should know?"

She thought about it for a moment. "There's talk about a possible film audition later in the week if you want to talk to her about it. I'm not sure if she'd take the role, but it'd be good exposure if she got the part."

"What kind of part is it?" Santana asked as she pulled out her notebook.

"Not the lead, which is why I don't think she'll take it, but it'd be good for her." Quinn shrugged, pulling the information out of a drawer. "It's the second daughter of a family film. Strictly Hallmark feel good, but it'll get her out there."

"She's not gonna get movie leads when all she's done is this one show," Santana said as she looked it over. "Is it shooting in California?"

"There'll be a short period where she'll have to go to LA for the scenes, but I can't really do anything about that." She sighed, running a hand through her hair, "I've tried making it very clear that she's the lead on a Broadway show and keeping her local, but this is the most I've been offered. She just doesn't have the recognition - or the willingness to do multiple auditions while in the midst of a show - to be asked for even a walk on to anything currently being filmed here."

"I'll try to convince her it will be good for her to take it." Santana asked, "You think it will be an actual film more than just a straight to DVD?"

"Honestly? It's Hallmark. It's strictly cable and Sunday special before going to DVD. But everyone has to start somewhere, right?" she asked, trying to convince herself she wasn't just settling on this role.

"Can we get her anything better? Like if I convince her to get time off the show to go to LA?" Santana asked. "Because you know she's better than this. What about TV shows that film in New York?"

"I've tried, San." Quinn sighed exasperatedly. "She has to audition and go through callbacks and she's just not willing to put in the effort right now with the show just getting off the ground. And _better_ than this," she tapped the folder of information on her desk, "would involve practically moving to LA or God only knows where for the better part of at least a year while it shoots. It'd mean abandoning the show and leaving New York. And I don't know about you, but I don't like the idea of her off somewhere alone. Unless you plan on pulling Brooke out of school and following her?" She raised a doubtful brow.

"Fuck." Santana growled, "Okay, I'll see if she wants to take this." She picked up the papers and slid them into her bag.

"Thanks, Santana. It's really the best that's out there right now." Quinn shrugged, hoping Santana would understand. "Maybe other opportunities will open up once the show gets established, but she only just got Broadway and I can't take it from her yet."

"Yeah." Santana nodded. "Alright... I should go grab her and get her to work." She stood up and gathered her things. "See you later?"

"Yeah." She nodded, opening up her laptop again. "I'll see the two of you around noon if you want me to bring some lunch by the theater. Thai sound good?"

"Perfect." She smiled with a nod. "See you later, call if you need anything," she added as she headed out of the office.

Quinn nodded absently, getting back to her work.


	10. Chapter 10

"Now, I love New York, but _this_ is far superior than New York in the rain," Rachel mused, relaxing back into the lounger and allowing the heat of the LA sun to sink into her skin as she lounged by the pool in her bikini.

Santana nodded as she tied her long hair into a braid that went over her shoulder. She still had her sundress on as she sat in the lounge chair rubbing sunscreen into Brooklyn's exposed skin. She tied the girl's hair back and popped a little hat on her head. "Don't fight me on that, Brooke." She said sternly. "Give the lotion a few minutes to settle in then we can go in the water."

"Don't fuss, Brooklyn," Rachel murmured. "We've got all day to relax. I'll even come in the pool if you wait a little, okay?"

"Fine," Brooklyn huffed. "It's pretty here. Thank you for bringing me with you and mommy," she said as she looked over at Rachel from behind her pink sunglasses.

"What was I gonna leave you at home with a bag of cereal?" Santana asked giving her daughter a strange look.

"No?" she looked confused. "Heard Rachie talking to Q-win, Mommy. We didn't have to come. Rachie said we come so I thanking Rachie."

Rachel glanced at Santana through her glasses. "It's not a big deal, Santana. I thought you'd like a nice paid vacation."

"It is nice, Brooklyn is very right," she said as she kissed her daughter's cheek. "Alright, little mermaid," she said as she grabbed the water wings. "Ready to swim?"

"Rachie coming?" she asked as her mom fixed the wings on her little arms. "I wanna swim with Rachie, mommy."

Rachel groaned slightly as she got up off her lounger and stretched. "Alright. Water time!" she said, grinning at the little girl.

"Want me to come in with you guys?" Santana asked as she held on her Brooklyn's hand. She leaned into Rachel. "She can't swim, so don't let her convince you she can."

"It's the kiddie pool, Santana," Rachel reassured her as she sat down in the shallow water. "I'm fairly certain we can handle it, right Brooklyn?"

"Yeah, mommy. I swim with Rachie," Brooklyn said as she reached for Rachel to plop her in. Santana just smiled and untied her dress to reveal a purple bikini. She folded her dress and placed it on the chair before coming over to the kiddie pool and looking down. "Is it cold?"

"No." Rachel smiled and got Brooklyn settled in the water before glancing up at Santana. "It's actually pretty," her voice trailed off for a moment as she stared at her friend's body, eyes roving over her tanned skin as she licked her lips before blushing darkly and glancing back down to Brooklyn, "warm... it's pretty warm."

"Good," Santana said as she sat on the edge with her legs crossed and her arms resting over her thighs so she could take her daughter's hands. "Do you like this, baby?" she asked.

"Uh-huh." Brooklyn smiled up at her reaching down with one hand to splash in the water. "I like swimming, Mommy. It's warmer than the pool at home!"

"Yes, because it's outside and the sun warms it up all day," she said as she let her fingers run in the water. "It's very warm and wet," she splashed Brooklyn slightly and making her giggle.

Rachel swallowed, embarrassed with herself for thinking about things that were very inappropriate for a child to be around. "I... um, I think I'll take a lap around the regular pool if you've got Brooklyn, Santana," she muttered, clambering out of the water with her cheeks still tinged red.

"Mommy?" Brooklyn pouted as she tugged her mom into the water. "What'd I do?"

Santana looked over at Rachel confused. "You didn't do anything," Santana said as she slid into the water with her daughter. "Maybe she wanted to get a couple laps in before it got busy. She'll come and play with us when she's done. Remember what I told you, babe, Rachel doesn't have to spend all of her time with us this weekend, okay?"

"Okay." She nodded, but still pouted as she watched Rachel cross to the diving platform and walk out. "Mommy," she whispered as Rachel bounced once and arced into the water, sliding out of view only to reappear moving with smooth strokes across the surface, "I wanna swim like Rachie someday. Can I?"

"Yes," Santana said as she picked up her daughter. "Want to come in the shallow end of the big people pool? As long as you stay with Mommy and hold on?"

Brooklyn brightened. "Can we, Mommy?" She was excited, bouncing in her mom's arms. "I wanna swim with the big people!"

Santana gathered her daughter up and held her on her hip as she walked over to the other pool and carefully walked down the steps into the water. She sat down on the lower steps so Brooklyn was submerged to her shoulders. Her eyes fell on Rachel's swimming - she was so fluid and graceful in her movements that she couldn't really look away. A big difference from high school.

Brooklyn laughed and splashed happily, but didn't move out of her mom's lap. She looked over as Rachel spun around and swam the other way as she started entering the shallow area, keeping up her laps. "Rachie's real pretty." She smiled up at her mom. "Like you, Mommy."

"She is," Santana said softly and laughed when she realized what her daughter had said, "Well thank you! You're quite the charmer, Brooklyn."

"I charming." She grinned up at her mom, splashing around happily. "Charming and pretty like my Mommy," she added with a proud smile, kicking her legs and laughing.

"That's right," Rachel agreed, smiling over at them from where she'd finally stopped her laps, slightly out of breath as she held onto the edge of the pool. "You're going to be quite the lady - or man - killer when you get older, sweetie."

"Rachel!" Santana scolded. "She's five!"

"And that's why I said _older_ , Santana," Rachel rolled her eyes. "Much older. Like thirty. Thirty sounds good, don't you think?"

"Forty." Santana nodded as she held onto Brooklyn and bounced her into the water.

Rachel laughed and let her body float as she arm walked along the bottom of the pool once she reached the shallower area until she was near them, making faces at Brooklyn. "Brooklyn's a good girl, Santana. I'm sure she'll not make you worry. Right, Brooklyn?"

"I'm a good girl." Brooklyn giggled as she kicked her legs.

"Yes, you are a very good girl." Santana smiled as she held the child so she could play.

"Let me know when you two get hungry and we can go eat, alright?" Rachel asked, sitting against the wall near them.

"Maybe in a bit, she'll have to nap this afternoon," Santana said. "We can some work finished then."

"Sounds like a plan," she said, smiling at them. "Want me to watch Brooklyn while you get a couple laps in, Santana?"

"Nah, I'm not much of a swimmer." She shrugged. "I'll hit the gym tonight when she falls asleep."

"Want company?" Rachel asked curiously. "Or would you rather someone stays with Brooklyn?"

"She can sleep alone for awhile. I'll probably hit the gym around 9:30 if you wanna come." She shrugged as she picked up Brooklyn when the girl started to whine about being hungry. "Aright, let's get you some food then head in for a nap."

"Sounds good." Rachel smiled at her, getting up and joining them as they climbed out and walked over to get their towels. "Want to eat in the restaurant here or get changed and head out to find somewhere?"

Santana wrapped the little one in her robe and took off her hat. "Why don't we say here?" Santana asked as she dried off her shoulders and wrapped the towel around her hips. "Do they have vegan food for you?"

"They have things I can eat, yes," Rachel laughed softly, picking up their things and slipping it into the bag she'd brought down. "Why don't we go put on something dry then and meet downstairs? Or would you rather order room service and just eat in our rooms? I certainly don't mind."

"Mommy? Eat on bed?" Brooklyn asked she tugged on Santana's hand.

"Room service it is." Santana smiled as she pushed her glasses up on her head. "Let's go, little people."

Rachel just rolled her eyes and followed them back up to their adjoining rooms.

* * *

She had gotten some work done after lunch with Rachel while Brooklyn napped in her room. When the little girl woke up Rachel had insisted they go out and take a walk around the hotel to see what, as Rachel put it, LA had to offer three ladies. Santana rolled her eyes and followed along as she and Brooklyn talked animatedly about the palm trees.

Once the sun started going down they headed back to the hotel. Santana changed into more comfortable clothing, not really caring that Rachel and Brooklyn were still in the room as she pulled on a pair of yoga pants and tank top. When she finished she saw a slight blush on Rachel's cheeks as she read to Brooklyn.

When dinner time rolled around, Rachel was still acting odd. Santana and her daughter headed down to the restaurant again and settled in a booth then Rachel excused herself. Santana coloured distractedly with her daughter after they ordered their food.

Over at the bar, Rachel summoned the bartender with a smirk and a crook of her finger - traits picked up from Quinn. "I'll have a beer - domestic, local if you have it and preferably light."

"Coming right up," he grinned at her, reaching for one of the pricier bottles under the bar.

A woman sauntered up to the counter and leaned against the counter, "Hey," she husked, looking Rachel over. "Are you here alone? If you are can I sit here?" She smiled her dark features illuminated against the soft light of the bar.

Rachel accepted her beer as the bartender handed it to her, turning to face the woman. "It's a free country. You are entitled to sit in whatever place you like." She smiled, enjoying the attention, unaware of the woman watching her from across the room.

"I'm Andrea." She smiled and sat down, crossing her legs as she spoke. "What would your name be?"

"Rachel," she offered, holding her hand out as she sat on the stool beside the woman. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I don't believe I've seen you around. Just check in?"

The woman gently shook Rachel's hand. "Yes, I'm doing a shoot here tomorrow so the hotel comped me a room."

"Ah," she smiled at her, sipping her drink, "in the business then?"

"Yes, what about you? You must be an actress or a model." she smiled as she sipped her wine, "You are far too beautiful to not be on a screen somewhere."

"Stage actually," Rachel admitted with a pleased smile. "I'm just in town for a small role before heading back to New York. What about yourself? I would venture to guess a model. You have lovely cheekbones after all."

"Photographer." She smiled, leaning a little bit closer. "I used to be a model, but I prefer to take photos rather than have them taken of me."

"Mmm," she murmured, cocking her head. "I can see the appeal."

* * *

Across the room, Brooke looked up from her coloring. "Mommy? Is Rachie gonna eat with us?"

Santana sighed and shook her head, "No, baby," she said as the food came. "She's talking to one of her friends," she said as she reached over and cut her daughter's chicken and carrots. "Oh, you got mac and cheese," she tried to change the subject, "you like that." Santana cut her own salad tried to ignore Rachel across the bar.

* * *

"So, you've been a photographer long?" Rachel asked curiously. "I've had terrible experience with them myself. Always so demanding."

"I was a model since I was a kid, then I took up photography after college." Andrea said as she reached over and ran her finger tips over Rachel's hand. "I paid for school with modeling cash so it was worth it."

"Sounds like it's been very lucrative for you," Rachel murmured, idly watching her touching her hand. "I suppose it can be a daunting profession to break into though. Very... strenuous."

"Gotta be very forward." She smirked, leaning in slightly, "and have a very good body... both of which I seem to have."

"Mmm," Rachel murmured noncommittally as she sipped at her beer. "I suppose you would have to be the sort of woman who likes to come in and," she smirked slightly, enjoying the game, "take control of a situation? Commanding? Perhaps even a little... forceful? But adaptable, as benefits a woman, doubtlessly. Our flexibility is what makes us so desirable, is it not?"

"This is true." She smiled. "I bet you need be all kinds of flexible on the stage," she said as she kept moving her fingers up Rachel's arm.

* * *

Santana stabbed her salad's last bite before looking up at Brooklyn. "Alright, Brooke. Do you wanna go to our room and see if there is a movie you wanna watch?"

"Can Rachie come?" she asked hopefully.

"No, sorry, she's gonna work with her friend," Santana said as she paid for their dinners. "She's going to do work things okay? So we can just hang out, okay?"

"Okay," Brooke sighed, sad her friend wouldn't be joining them.

* * *

Over at the bar, Rachel glanced down at the hand running up her arm with a raised brow. "I suppose it helps sometimes," she offered mildly, drinking down the last of her beer as she lost interest in continuing to play.

"So, Ms. Rachel..." Andrea smiled as she finished her wine, "I have another bottle up in my room, would you care for a night cap?" She stood up and offered her hand to the woman as Santana and Brooklyn headed out of the restaurant.

Rachel raised a brow. "I'm sorry. I don't drink before bed. And I believe you've mistaken me for a very different type of woman, Andrea. You see, I never," she spoke mildly, setting her glass on the bar with a ten dollar bill to cover it, "have sex with strangers. I also never go off alone with them. I'm entirely aware of the concept of white slavery as well as serial killers and, well, frankly, picking up women in a hotel bar? That implies a certain level of desperation commonly associated with holders of various types of STDs which I plan on never contracting so," she smiled at the stunned look on the woman's face, "I believe I'll join my partner and her daughter and bid this restaurant adieu as I head to my own room. Alone."

Andrea rolled her eyes and looked at the small woman. "You still have a lot to learn, little girl," she said, "and your girlfriend? Stormed out of here pissed, so maybe you shouldn't openly flirt with women in front of her and the kid." She shook her head and walked out of the bar.

Rachel laughed, shaking her head. "I said partner, not girlfriend," she called after her, turning to head for the elevators upstairs. "As if Santana would ever want to be my girlfriend," she snorted to herself softly, getting up and heading upstairs. She was feeling a little more excited by the flirting and being around Santana than she was expecting so with a quick glance at her watch, she decided to burn off some excess energy in the privacy of her room before their workout together.

* * *

After getting Brooklyn into her pajamas and settled into bed and watching Mulan, Santana's head snapped up when she heard the door to the next room close. After a few minutes she heard what sounded like soft whimpers. Her eyes went wide as she looked down to her daughter who was still more or less awake in her arms. Santana turned up the volume on the television so her daughter couldn't hear the noises that were coming from the other room.

Santana felt a mix of emotions. Annoyance, anger, jealousy and betrayal. The fact the Rachel would bring a woman she just met back to her room, one that was more or less shared with a child made Santana reconsider ever allowing Rachel into her and her daughter's life.

* * *

A little while later the sound of the shower running in Rachel's room could be heard as Brooklyn drifted off to sleep in her mom's arms. Nearly twenty minutes later, a soft knock came to the door connecting their rooms. "Santana?" Rachel called softly through the door, "Are you ready to go to the gym?"

Half of Santana wanted to pretend to be asleep but she slid out of Brooklyn's grasp and moved to the door. "Go by yourself," she said simply as she held the door open slightly.

"What?" Rachel looked confused and hurt. "Why? I thought we were going to go together."

"I'm pretty sure you just got a workout from the slut at the bar so just go away," she said as she tried to close the door.

"What?!" Rachel hissed, her eyes narrowing. "Santana, what are you _talking_ about?!" Her fingers curled into the gap between the door and the frame hoping Santana wasn't mad enough to slam it on her hand.

"I just had to sit in here and _listen_ to you and some slut fuck while my daughter watched a movie," she hissed back, trying not to wake her daughter. "Hoping to fucking God that _Mulan_ was louder than your moans."

" _What_?! Santana!" She visibly stopped herself and pushed the door open further. "No. If you want to fight with me at least come in here so we don't wake Brooklyn."

Santana scoffed as she entered the room. "Yeah cause I really want to be in the room where you just got laid, thanks." She crossed her arms across her chest.

"Stop being so disgustingly crude," Rachel snapped, closing the door. "If you haven't noticed, I'm the _only_ one in this room besides you right now and it's not like anyone's left. Feel free to search if you don't believe me."

"I know what I saw, Rachel," Santana said, her expression doing a poor job of hiding how hurt she was. "And heard."

"What you _think_ you heard," she pointed out, irritated. "As I told the walking STD downstairs, I _never_ have sex with strangers and I _certainly_ wouldn't invite her or anyone else back to my room with Brooklyn in the other room!"

"Right, so the moaning and _whimpering_ was just my imagination?" Santana replied, her arms tightening around her own body.

"Ugh, I was _trying_ to be quiet," she ground out, rubbing at her face, "but is it _really_ such a sin to try and relieve your own sexual tension?"

Santana was slightly taken aback, then grossed out. "God! Jesus, Rachel. Sluts like that get you off? Fuck, I just don't want that shit around my kid. I had to _lie_ to her about why you couldn't have dinner with us or watch a dumbass movie! I don't like to lie to my kid."

"Ew! I was _not_ interested in her, thank you very much. I do have higher standards than _that._ " She looked mildly nauseated by the idea. "You didn't have to lie to Brooklyn. I would have been more than happy to have dinner with you or join you for the movie if you'd asked. It's not my fault you decided to leap to the conclusion that I apparently want to have intimate relations with anyone I happen to talk to or smile at in a social setting." She glared angrily at Santana, unhappy with the idea.

"I'm here with you! _W_ _e're_ here with you! You're always invited to spend time with us! Brooklyn is obsessed with you. I had to keep her from going and saying good night during your little self love fiesta," Santana said. "I don't want her getting attached to you if you can't follow through!"

Rachel's jaw worked and she couldn't bring herself to meet Santana's accusing glare. "It wasn't ... I just... I was uncomfortable, okay? It didn't feel right and I needed a little space. That's all..."

"If you want space, Rachel, just tell me. Don't make me figure out your issues by myself!" Santana groaned as she rubbed her arm. "I have a responsibility to my daughter to make sure things are normal for her. If you come into her life and feel like you need to take a break you need to tell me. I need to be able to handle her emotions." She took a breath. "I get wanting a break. I get it. It's a lot. She can be a lot."

"No!" Rachel shook her head, "It's not that. It's just... it's not, okay? I love Brooklyn. I love spending time with her. She's adorable and I've never really had any family beyond my fathers so it's so sweet being able to spend time with her. It's not her... I promise. I'd do anything for her, Santana."

"Oh fuck... It's me?" she asked nervously. "I know I'm a bitch and... I don't fucking know... okay. I'll just go and leave you." She turned and tried to move to the door before her emotions got the best of her. She thought maybe she was smothering Rachel, considering her as her friend more than her boss.

"No!" She reached out hurriedly, grabbing Santana's wrist. "Don't go... please. It's me. I swear, it's just... you're _so_ attractive and it's been a long time for me and I really shouldn't feel that way about you when Brooklyn's there but you were wearing so very little and... I'm _so_ sorry, Santana!"

"Wait," Santana said with her back turned to Rachel. "That was because of the pool earlier?"

Rachel swallowed, but nodded slowly, looking scared. Her grasp on Santana's wrist loosened and she backed away, waiting for the fallout. "Yes," she breathed, her shoulders slumping as she moved to sit on the bed, looking tiny. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't..."

Santana's hand rubbed her wrist. "Oh... I mean..." she stumbled. "It's fine, like... don't worry about it."

"You don't," Rachel trembled slightly, scared she'd lose her friend over what she was sure was just a momentary weakness, "you don't have to stay over any more... or... or if you want to, I can sleep on the sofa. I... this won't be a problem, Santana. I swear it won't... you won't even know..."

"Stop," Santana said as she turned around. "It's fine. I'm actually relieved you weren't into that whore." She smiled softly. "And you know that Brooklyn won't let us not cuddle her, so cut the crap about the couch."

Rachel looked up uncertainly. "Are you certain? I truly don't want this to mess up our friendship, Santana. It was just because I never see you... like that usually, I'm sure. I'm terribly sorry for objectifying you like that."

"You're not the first of my friends who have used my body as fodder for their spank bank." She shrugged. "Look it's not a problem."

She winced, hating the nasty twist Santana's words gave her stomach. "I won't do it again," she whispered. "You're more than your body and your friendship means more to me than... than _that_ , Santana."

"Thanks," she said, not really sure if she believed her. "I doubt I'm more than my body, but thanks." She shrugged. "But, you're like my only friend beyond like Q so I don't wanna screw that up."

Rachel cocked a brow at her. "Santana, you are far more than just your body. Please don't sell yourself short. You're an amazing mom and I swear if it wasn't for you I'd be a mess and wouldn't get even half as much done. Quinn relies on you and your judgement... I think that's a lot more than just your body."

"Okay," Santana said as she looked at the ground, her hair falling in front of her face. "Can we just... not talk about this anymore?"

"Oh." Rachel nodded jerkily. "Um, sure. Of course, Santana." She smiled lopsidedly, doing her best to ignore the little sting that felt like rejection and the nauseating way her stomach seemed to drop. "Consider the subject dropped. Um, did... did you still want to go to the gym?" she asked hesitantly.

"Um," Santana said, "sure, I guess... but I don't really want to leave Brooklyn alone so I might just skip."

"Oh." Rachel nodded slowly. "I understand." She took a breath and smiled wanly. "I guess I'll see you in the morning then? We... we could have breakfast? With Brooklyn of course. I should apologize for not joining you for dinner and your movie after all."

"You don't need to apologize to her." Santana smiled. "But thank you for offering." She hugged Rachel gently and kissed her cheek. "Good night," she said as she moved to the door. "Want it open or closed?"

She'd stiffened slightly at the hug and kiss, forcing herself not to respond. She smiled weakly at Santana and shrugged, "Whichever is fine with me. I don't mind if Brooklyn comes in in the morning if that's what you're asking."

"She's like a cuddly alarm clock." Santana smiled. "So, I'll leave it slightly ajar. Prepare for a pounce in the morning," she warned her as she headed into her room. She slipped her pants off and crawled into bed in just her boyshorts and tank top. Brooklyn wrapped herself around her mom the moment she hit the bed.

* * *

Back in her room, Rachel stared at the door for several minutes before getting up to change for bed. Crawling in, she wrapped herself in the covers and buried her face in her pillow. "What am I going to do now?" she whispered softly, her body trembling as she held back the tears that wanted to come out. Eventually, she fell asleep, her mind still in turmoil about how to handle her unexpected attraction to her friend. And the fact that her friend embarrassingly now knew all about it.


	11. Chapter 11

Quinn took a sip of her coffee as she got out of the subway entrance and hit the brisk air of a late winter morning. She pushed her sunglasses down off the top of her head as she pushed her scarf higher up on her neck. It was early - even earlier than usual - but she had set up several meetings that morning and she needed to get an early start to the day. She strolled down 8th Avenue towards the theatre which was nestled off of 48th Street.

Recognizing what he thought was a familiar blonde head moving past him in the reflection of the window he was looking in, Jay glanced over his shoulder and smiled. Tucking his hands in his pockets, he decided to follow her for a bit and see if an opening came up to say hi. It wasn't often he got to meet someone involved with his work that wasn't a victim or perpetrator of some crime, so the attractive manager was an intriguing concept for him.

The young woman, pulled her jacket around her and weaved through the people who seemed to move slower than normal. "Hate New York," she mumbled to herself when she received an elbow to her arm causing her to drop her coffee.

Just before it hit the ground, a hand darted out and caught it, though more than a little splashed out over his bare skin. He winced but offered it with a smile. "I believe you dropped this, Ms Fabray. You know we frown on littering in this city."

"Wow," she breathed as she looked up and smiled when she saw it was the police officer she had met the week before. "Officer Singh was it?" she asked as she reached into her purse and pulled out a package of tissues. "That was pretty impressive."

"Pretty painful too." He chuckled, accepting a tissue in trade for the coffee and wiping his hand off. "You like your coffee hot, Ms. Fabray, but please, call me Jay. I'm off duty right now and there's no need for formality."

"Okay," she smiled, "I insist you call me Quinn then, if we are not being formal," she said as she wiped off her cup. "I'm sorry about your hand, is it okay?"

"It'll be fine," he smiled lopsidedly at her, "if you'll agree to let me buy you a replacement to your dropped coffee sometime."

"You see that might have worked," she countered, "but you seem to have salvaged most of it negating my need for another." Quinn looked up at him, obviously making him work for another meeting.

"Well, yes," he tilted his head to the side with a grin, flashing even white teeth, "but I didn't specify _this_ coffee now did I? New York is a very busy place and doubtless you'll be jostled into dropping a different one sometime. I'll just replace that one."

"Ah," her smile broadened slightly, enjoying the little game, "how will the very busy New York cop keep track of my coffee dropping?"

"I'll just have to keep an ear on my radio for any beautiful women in distress calls. After all, caffeine is a necessary part of life and they charge ridiculously high prices for it here." He strolled along beside her, hands tucked in his jacket pockets. "Or maybe you could just give me a call when you'd like a free cup and a friendly face?"

"How could I argue with logic like that?" She smirked, shaking her head in amusement. "Are you going actually ask me out, Officer, or are you gonna keep playing around the question?"

"Why, I thought sophisticated women like yourself enjoyed the game," he teased. "And maybe I'm a little afraid of being turned down if I ask outright."

"I'm not into games," she said honestly. "I'm busy as I'm sure you are as well and I'm from a small town... I'm not really into the chase."

"Ah, I see." He walked along quietly beside her for a bit. "That doesn't change that I'm a bit worried that asking will lead to not being able to see you again."

"I thought police officers were brave," she teased as she looked over at him with a bashful smile.

"Sure we are." He glanced around as if looking for something. "Got a gunman handy for me to throw myself at to show you?" He looked back at her with a shy smile. "You're something else and a little intimidating, Ms Fa... I mean, Quinn."

"It's because I'm blonde and wear sundresses, isn't it." She smiled at him as she reached the door of the theatre. "There is no need for a gunman to be anywhere near me or you and you shouldn't be worried I'd turn you down."

"Well then," he smiled shyly down at her, reaching to open the door for her, "would you consider possibly joining this particular police officer for dinner next Wednesday? Or if that's too much, I'm open to coffee whenever you'd like."

She leaned back against the brick and looked at him for a moment. She was nervous. Sure, she'd had a few lovers since she and Rachel broke up, but she hadn't really _dated_ anyone or even gone out for a date in some time. She nodded, a slight blush from the cold tinting her pale cheeks. "Wednesday sounds good."

"Really?" His voice cracked slightly in excitement, causing him to blush as he cleared his throat. "I mean, really? That's... that's great." He smiled shyly, "That's really great. Oh!" he scrabbled at his pockets until he fumbled up a notepad and wrote down something on it before tearing the page off and handing it to her. "That's my number and email. If anything comes up... just let me know, okay? We can finalize plans later if you'd like. I'm," he licked his lips, taking a breath, "I'm looking forward to this, Quinn."

She reached over and took his pen and pad, handing him her coffee. "And here is mine." She handed it back to him and retrieved her coffee before smiling. "So, um, you can text me or whatever if you want." She looked down at the coffee in her hands and back up. "I should go to work now."

"Oh... um, yeah." He blushed again, slipping the notepad back into his pocket as he stepped down the stairs. "I'll talk to you later then. Okay?"

"Sure." She smiled and she folded the paper and slipped it into her purse. "Talk to you later, Jay," Quinn said as she headed inside. She stopped just inside the door and looked back over her shoulder. "Thanks for asking me to dinner."

"My pleasure." He grinned lopsidedly, running a hand through his hair before waving at her. "See you around, Quinn."

She just shook her head, a small smile on her face as she closed the theatre door.

* * *

The first person to knock on the door to the office theater management had set aside for Santana to use during interviews that day wasn't a man like the name "Sam" on the resume in front of her had implied. The woman was approaching six foot and built like she spent most of her time in the gym. "Hi," she murmured, her voice soft and touched with a Southern accent. "I'm Sam Carter."

Santana stood up from her chair and looked at her, slightly stunned. "Uh. Hey," she said, "Santana Lopez." She motioned for her to come in. "Come in, you're here for the interview?"

"That's right," she smiled, lopsidedly but never showing any teeth, "my supervisor at the agency said to come talk to you at ten. Well, it's ten and here we are, so what do you want to know about me?"

"Sit down." Santana motioned to the chair. "Can you tell me about your experience in working security? Have you been in venues like this before?" she asked as she sat down and looked at Sam.

Sam sat down in the chair across the desk. "I'm from Texas originally. Houston PD. Reached Sergeant before I left the force. But I got family up here who needed my help so I left and moved up. Security just happens to be easier to get into then the NYPD. I've been working private security for the past five years now. Worked about everything available by this point, mostly temp jobs, but I'm looking for something a little more stable and long term now."

Santana jotted down notes on the application review form and nodded. "Have you dealt with theaters before? Crazy fans storming the stage door after the show, actors coming in and out, and possibly high profile stars coming through from time to time?"

"Once or twice," she nodded, "and I worked special event security as part of the Houston PD. VIP security can't be too much different from this."

Santana nodded. "Okay, and for hours... the cast starts getting here at eleven for a matinee and one for evening show. They usually won't leave until like ten or eleven depending on the night. We'd need our security team for those hours with occasional earlier call times."

"Not a problem. I've worked just about every shift out there and at least this will be predictable." She shrugged. "As long as I know when I'm working, I can make everything else fit around it."

"Do you have any special hour requirements? Family things or what have you that I should know about up front?" she asked looking up to the woman.

She thought about it for a moment then slowly shook her head. "I don't believe so, though if something comes up, you'll of course be notified as soon as possible."

"Okay," Santana smiled, "Well we're looking to hire about five people who we can have at least two full time on days and the other two will be overnights and one will be a relief and and on-call for larger nights," she explained.

Sam nodded, working the details over in her mind. "That sounds like a decent set up. Might I make a suggestion though?"

"Sure," Santana said, leaning forward and listening.

"Hire at least two reliefs," she pointed out. "With only one, if two people get sick or hurt, you're up the proverbial creek. With two or more, you've got more breathing room. And be careful on your overnighter or rotate folks or you're going to end up with a sleeper." She took a breath, thinking about it, "Finally, don't be afraid to fire anyone if they get caught sleeping. It's the worst thing you can do in security. If you're sleeping, you're not doing your job. I'd fire me if I got caught sleeping."

Santana smiled, leaning back. "So I've been doing interviews all day and you are the first person who had challenged or suggested any changes to the format that we had put in place," she said, filing her papers. "I like that. I like that you know what you're doing." She put the woman's resume and application in the folder and looked back at her. "You'll be hearing from us soon."

Sam smiled. "Good to hear," she held out her hand, "I hope to get a chance to work with you, Ms Lopez."

"Likewise," Santana said as she shook Sam's hand and stood up. She led her to the door and opened it for her and smiled. "Thank you for coming in."

"Been a pleasure, Ms Lopez." She reached up as if to tip a hat, blushed slightly as she realized she wasn't wearing one, and headed out.

* * *

A couple hours - and three more interviews later - there came another soft tap on the door. Quinn ducked in and held up a brown paper bag from the Chinese place down the street. "Can I interest you in dinner? Rachel's picking Brooklyn up and taking her over to her place to play piano and have dinner, right?"

"Yep, they're having midget time," Santana said as she looked up from her pile of papers. She had tied her hair into a messy bun as she worked on the plethora of paperwork that seemed to accumulate with the hiring of this many people. "Dinner sounds awesome."

"Good, cause I got lots," she said with a grin, coming in and handing Santana the bag so she could pick what she wanted. "How's the hiring process going?"

Santana unpacked the bags and selected the General Tso's chicken. "Share?" she said as she grabbed a pair of chopsticks, and pointing at the other box of food. "Cause I'm gonna want some of that too." She smiled and took a hunk of chicken and chewed it. "Hiring is good, I think we need seven people though."

"Seven?" Quinn asked curiously, taking a seat and pulling out the container of chicken and snowpeas. "Why the change?"

"I was talking to one of the applicants - who we should hire by the way - and she mentioned that we should have two reliefs. I think she's right." Santana shrugged, looking up as she opened the veggie rice container. "We have it in the budget."

"Oh I don't doubt we do." She shrugged, nibbling on a snowpea. "If you think that's for the best, then I support you. What about this applicant who's apparently busy impressing you?"

"She just actually had ideas, unlike the rest who just kinda looked at me and nodded." She shrugged. "I like someone who can visualize the space and maybe suggest ways to change any problems that might come up."

"Mmm," Quinn nodded, chewing and swallowing before speaking again, "that makes sense. You're thinking of making her the lead, aren't you." She smirked, pointing at Santana with her chopsticks before going back to her food. "Think we're going to having any problems with the others having a female lead?"

"Dude, she's like six feet tall," Santana pointed out with a snort. "I think they will be fine." She shrugged and leaned back, munching on her food. "What's new with you? I haven't seen you too much since we got back from California."

Quinn shrugged. "Nothing much. I've been running around like an anxious puppy trying to keep everything in line the past few days. Only reason I'm here today is because I had meetings with management and a couple actors looking to join my office's casting pool." She sighed. "It's the busy season."

"That's good. Look at you, all grown and shit." Santana smirked as she took another bite of her food. "You won't get all famous and forget your workers, right," she said with a teasing tone.

"No one remembers managers unless they get murdered," she said, shrugging again as she nibbled on a piece of chicken. "It's not exactly a route to stardom, San. But it pays well and I get to yell at people," she smirked.

"That does sound like a legit career choice for you." Santana smiled, and handed over her box in a trade for Quinn's. "So... little lady, tell me about that beautiful brown man I saw you chatting up at the ass crack of morning today."

"Who?" She looked confused for a moment then blushed slightly. "Oh, you mean Jay? What about him?"

"Whose Jay?" Santana asked. "How do you know him? Is he good in bed? I needs to know!"

"Jesus, San!" She scoffed. "I'm not _sleeping_ with him! Besides, you already met him."

The other woman cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Have I?"

"Mmhmm," Quinn smirked at her, amused that Santana had already forgot. "It's your fault I ended up meeting him, so I would assume you did."

"Oh shit!" Santana exclaimed. "The cop?"

"The cop," Quinn agreed with a nod, chuckling slightly at Santana's distress.

"Ew you're dating the cop?" Santana was gaping, a piece of chicken hanging off her chopstick. "Why?!"

Quinn's amusement fell away. "Is there something _wrong_ with me liking someone, Santana? Or maybe you've just got a problem with the fact he's a police officer."

"Sorry, I'm just kinda surprised." She said, "He doesn't seem like your type."

"My _type_?" She raised a brow. "And what would that be, Santana? Because, apparently, it's not nice, funny, sweet, or handsome according to you."

"You dated Rachel," she said. "I'm just confused because Rachel told me you've both been hooking up with girls for awhile. I don't know him except for him being here once. I'm sure he's nice... you're just my girl, okay? I don't know if I like him sniffing around you."

"Jesus, Santana, what are you, my chaperone?" Quinn sighed in frustration. "Yes, I dated Rachel. I even had sex with her! Yes, I've slept with other women. That does not make me a lesbian who will never ever be with a man again and for God's sake, what do you want? Me to be _alone_ for the rest of my life?! I just..." she stared down at her food, unhappy and upset, "I meet someone who I like talking to, who was so shy about asking me out he almost _didn't_ , and you're the _first_ person I've talked to about him and... Goddamn it, Santana. Why am I not allowed to be fucking _happy_ for once?! Why do I have to be just as... no, _more_ alone than _you_?!"

Santana frowned and put down her container. "I was just surprised, okay," she stated. "I didn't even know you met him. So obviously hearing that you're going out with him caught me off guard. God, Quinn. I'm happy if you like him!" She stood up like she was going to leave. "I just want to make sure he's good enough for you."

"No, you're not and no, you don't." She put the carton down on Santana's desk and stood up. "If you were you could have just... I don't know. Maybe _congratulated_ me for finding _one_ decent guy in this fucking city willing to give me the time of day instead of acting like I'd just committed some kind of sin by saying yes to going to dinner with someone I'm attracted to? Whatever. Enjoy your food. I have to get back to work."

"Quinn. Stop. Please..." Santana sounded small as she tried to get Quinn to listen to her, "Please."

"Why? So you can berate me some more?" She didn't turn around from her place by the door. "I'm sorry I apparently can't find someone to date who meets your exacting fucking standards, Santana. For some stupid reason, I thought you were my friend and would be happy for me."

"I'm an ass," Santana said, reaching out for Quinn's hand. "I shouldn't have reacted that way. I... fuck me... I'm jealous okay?" She looked down. "I reacted the same when Rachel was flirting with someone. I'm fucking jealous that you found someone you like and that makes me a shitty as fuck friend."

"Why?" She shrugged one shoulder but didn't turn around. "You've practically got Rachel wrapped around your little finger. I hardly ever see her anymore and she's supposed to be my best friend. I'm lonely, okay? I'm lonely and it's freaking _nice_ to have someone care about me enough to want to ask me out. So sue me, okay?"

"I know. I'm sorry. Can... Can we start again. I'll stop being an ass," Santana said, tugging Quinn's hand. "Please come tell me about him?"

"Why?" she asked, still feeling sullen. "You've already made your judgment."

"I haven't." Santana pleaded, "Please, Quinn. One more chance?"

Quinn sighed, slouching down in the chair but not touching her food. "Why don't you tell me about LA instead?" she suggested, not willing to talk about Jay right then. "Rachel was flirting with someone? Not another Finn I hope."

"Some woman at the bar while me and Brooklyn were having dinner." She sighed and handed Quinn one of the cartons. "I thought she disappeared with her and they fucked, I got mad and we fought, she ended up telling me they didn't have sex or even do anything other than talk so my being mad was just crazy."

"Mmm, that sounds like Rachel." She poked at the food for a moment then shrugged, setting the carton back down. "I'm not really hungry. She has a habit of talking to anyone that comes up to her, though she tends to cut them off if they suggest leaving and she's not exactly nice about it in my experience."

Santana shrugged. "I was just kinda pissed... it felt like she was blowing me and Brooklyn off for some random person." She sighed. "And Brooke noticed it too which made it worse."

"Okay, that's not like Rachel." She sat up a little, looking at Santana worriedly. "Did she tell you what was going on? There's no way she'd blow off Brooklyn."

"Yeah, after I yelled at her." Santana sighed and pushed her hair back.

"What was wrong? Was she not feeling good? Did you make her go to a doctor?" Quinn was mentally running over what Rachel'd said about her last check up, trying to remember if anything was amiss.

"No, she was like spouting off some crap about needing to relieve some tension or whatever." Santana shrugged, still not believing Rachel's reason for ignoring her and Brooklyn.

Quinn looked at her with a raised brow. "Relieving... tension?" Her eye twitched slightly as she tried to figure out what their friend could have meant by that. "What does that even mean?"

"I don't know. I overheard her having some evidently self love time, which I was worried about because I'm not explaining that shit to my kid." Santana sighed, taking a sip of her water bottle. "I'm still not sure what's even up, she's been strange around me."

Quinn rubbed at her face, feeling another brick slip into place in the wall between her and everyone else. "Fuck, I was afraid this would happen," she muttered, sighing softly.

Santana looked over and furrowed her eyebrow. "What?" she asked. 'What's wrong?" She put her water back down and looked at Quinn. "Seriously, Q whats up?"

"She's into you, isn't she," Quinn shook her head, rolling her eyes. "I really should have expected that. She always had that crush on you so this is just a natural extension especially since you're always around. She does have a bad habit of falling for people who are nice to her when she doesn't expect it. And the two of you _did_ have some amazing musical chemistry..."

"She's not into me, Quinn," Santana said, "I work for her and that's it." She grabbed her food again and took a bite. "Just because she fell for you doesn't mean she will for me."

"That's why I was afraid this would happen." She sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Because I had a feeling you wouldn't return any interest she might be experiencing. You probably turned her down too, didn't you." She shook her head. "She's going to be all weird now."

"She didn't... what are you even talking about!" Santana exclaimed. "She didn't even say anything about that! God. I was pissed she was jerking off near my kid and that's it."

"If you say so," Quinn shrugged, running a hand through her hair. "Not that she probably doesn't feel awful about being caught. Was she really that... noisy? She's usually quieter when she's alone..."

"I could hear her over Mulan." Santana shrugged. "I just get nervous about exposing Brooklyn to things that I don't want to explain yet." She sighed. "I really hate being a single mom some days."

"I'm sure she's sorry," she said, resting one elbow on the chair's arm and rubbing at her forehead. "What a mess."

"It's fine. I wish she would just be normal with me again. I don't even care that she was doing that, I mean, shit good for her... but, I just got you and her back... I don't want to lose you both again."

"Normal's probably going to be hard for her." Quinn looked over at Santana sadly. "I'm sure she'll try though. Your friendship's important to her, and don't look at me like that. She told me it was. I feel bad for her." She sighed softly.

"I apologized." Santana pouted, stabbing at her food. "I shouldn't have gotten mad when I thought she was with that other chick. But you know that I talk out of my ass... can we just stop talking about this and go back to your date?"

"If you insist," she shrugged, "though I don't know how interesting a first date is."

"They can be really interesting." Santana smiled, happy to be away from the awkward topic of Rachel and the trip to LA. "They're awkward and flirty and he's gonna walk you home and kiss you goodnight," she said as she squeezed Quinn's knee. "You're gonna call me after and gush like you used to when we were kids."

"I think you watch too many Hallmark movies," Quinn replied mildly, though a hint of a smile teased around the corners of her lips. "That sort of thing doesn't happen in real life."

"Yes, it does." Santana said, "Don't burst my bubble of hope." She chuckled. "And it's not Hallmark. I watch way too many Disney movies and read fairy tales."

"My point exactly, Santana," she chuckled, "your head's full of fantasies. You need to open up your eyes and realize those sort of things just don't happen. There aren't any white knights or princes riding in to sweep us off our feet. And with my luck, even if he _is_ that sweet, he's a cop. He'll end up with his name on a wall."

"Don't talk like that, okay," Santana said. "Look... let's get out of here. Let's go get a beer or something." She stood up and started cleaning up the food. "Just you and me."

Quinn laughed, straighting Santana's files up. "You just want to get me drunk." She glanced up at her friend with a teasing smirk. "Think it'll help you get in my pants?"

"If I tried I could get into you." She smiled as she grabbed her leather jacket and phone off the chair. "You'd like it, too."

"You wish." She nudged her, bumping her shoulder. "You've been trying to get in my pants since Nationals, junior year. Don't try and deny it."

"You turned down a threesome," Santana said with a smile, not wanting to remember Brittany. "You could have had me."

"I'm not into threesomes." She shrugged as they headed out. "I can't focus on more than one person. If I'm going to be with someone, they get all my attention. I'm strictly one-on-one, but you never got that in high school."

"Yeah well... I was preoccupied by getting my mind fucked." She shrugged. "I didn't really have the ability to understand that being with someone wasn't the greatest," she said as she guided Quinn towards a bar near the theatre.

"I wasn't very good at that either," she admitted softly as she walked into the bar with her friend, flashing her license at the bartender and ordering a couple of beers after Santana did the same. "I kind of insisted on trying to define myself by who I was with or what uniform I was in... it wasn't a good time."

"Yeah. Fucking the guys to get to the top and protect my reputation wasn't so much fun ether. Then all the shit with Brit..."

"I'm sorry about that, Santana," she offered, reaching over to hug her gently, "I wish I'd have been there - _really_ there - to help you with that. I should have been paying more attention, not texting Rachel..."

"I think you got punished for texting when you got hit by a car," Santana joked. "It's fine. I had to learn how to deal with things on my own."

"I still am fairly certain I had the right of way," she mused then shrugged. "Still, I was a pretty shitty friend when you needed me to be a better one. I'm sorry about that."

"It was high school..." Santana shrugged, taking a sip of her beer. "Everyone go through shit. I wasn't there for you when you were pregnant. Though I did ask my dad if you could stay with us, but he wasn't having that."

Quinn snorted, taking a drink. "Can't say I'm really surprised. Your mom and dad never were big on me after the whole teen pregnancy thing. I can't imagine they were big fans of you going through the same thing."

"They were less happy about you being knocked up by a Jew." She sighed. "So their lesbian daughter being knocked up by an Asian? One whose father was doing better professionally then my dad was." She took a long swig. "I couldn't tell which he was more pissed about."

"God, bigots, what a joy." She took a drink, shaking her head. "Can't live with them, can't freaking kill them. If he wasn't Hispanic, I'm sure your dad and mine would get along like a house on fire."

Santana snorted as she nodded. "Yep, special people." She shrugged. "Whatever, I got away and my kid will never know them."

"Cheers to that." Quinn raised her glass to Santana with a smirk. "To getting away from freaking Lima and away from bigots. We'll be successes and they can shove it."

"This is true," Santana said. "And you'll have a nice new boyfriend soon and you'll be bragging about all of your sexing and I'll hate you and your face more," she teased as she took another sip.

She blushed. "Please, Santana. I've never bragged about my sexual exploits nearly as much as you. And he's not my boyfriend... it's just dinner."

"This is true." Santana said, "But, my sexual exploits are null these days and I rely on you to tell me all the dirty details."

"You're more likely to get details out of Rachel than me," she pointed out, "though... her sexual exploits are likely to be about as exciting as yours lately."

"She gets more action than I do, evidently," she said as she took a drink. "She can get herself off."

"I'm sure you can do the same," Quinn pointed out with a raised brow. "If you need privacy, you _do_ realize that your girl is being plied with musicals and vegan popcorn right now, right?"

The young mother laughed. "Yes, this is probably true," she said as she rested her head on her propped up hand. "But, unfortunately, my body does not enjoy that." She shrugged. "It's not for a lack of trying in high school... but now I share a room with my kid and it just doesn't work for me."

"So you like," she looked confused, "you _can't_ get yourself off?" She blinked in shock, "Not even with like... toys?"

"Why do you think I had so much sex during school?" she asked with a chuckle. "I can't get myself off."

"Mmm," she smirked at her over the rim of her glass, "should have let me know in high school." She raised a brow suggestively. "I'd have given you a hand."

"Yeah right," Santana replied, "you didn't even give yourself until you were pregnant."

"Are you sure about that?" she asked softly, watching Santana amusedly. "Besides, though, my pregnancy _did_ prompt my mom to kick my dad out so we'd have had a place to work on it together away from the bigots."

"Don't tease horny people, Fabray." Santana stated, "It's not polite."

"Who's teasing?" she asked curiously. "Certainly not me..."

The darker woman's eyes fluttered closed. "If you hadn't said that thing about threesomes earlier I would be convinced you were attempting to make some weird fantasy of yours and Berry's come true."

"Trust me, Santana," Quinn murmured, taking a drink, "if I took you to my bed, I'd want to give you my _entire_ attention. Rachel being there would be both weird and entirely distracting."

"Quinn," Santana warned, "you're being... it's not funny anymore okay," she said looking down at her drink.

"I'm sorry." She reached over and squeezed her wrist. "For what it's worth... if I didn't have this date coming up," she licked her lips, "it wouldn't be a joke and it wouldn't be a game. I'd mean it... just as friends, but I'd mean it."

"It's the just as friends thing..." Santana sighed as she pushed away a rogue tear.

"San... let's go back to my place, okay? Not for... anything like that," she shook her head, "but just get away from the public for a bit. Besides I need my oldest friend to help me figure out what to wear on this date, right?"

Santana drank the last of her beer and nodded. "I need to call Brooklyn and tell her I'll be home after she's asleep..."

"Let her stay with Rachel. It'll make both of them happy," Quinn pointed out, tossing a twenty down for the beers. "And you can go over after and check on them. Crash there, I'm sure they'd be happy to see you when they wake up." She smiled lopsidedly, leading Santana out of the bar.

"I have to call her still," Santana said as she dialed Rachel's number. "Hey. How's Brooke treating you? Quinn and I are working a bit longer, can she crash there? Great thank you. Lemme talk to her." Santana looped her arm round Quinn's. "Hi, baby, you having fun with Rachel? Awesome. Mommy needs to work awhile longer can you be a good girl and let Rachel give you a bath and read you a story? Thank you baby, I'll be there soon and we can go home if you want... Alright go to sleep and I love you." She smiled and hung up her phone.

"Everything good with the midgets?" Quinn asked as she hung up, thumbing a cab over.

"Yep." Santana nodded. "They're finishing coloring then Brooke gets a bath."

Quinn shook on her head, getting into the cab and giving the driver the address to her apartment building once Santana joined her. "I swear, Rach's better with kids than anyone I know. Brooklyn seems pretty taken with her."

"Yeah, I think Brooke was growing bored of me." She stated, "It's good for her to be around other people."

"Mmm," she nodded, getting out and paying when they reached Quinn's place. "I'm not far from Rachel so if you want to walk down later, it won't take you long." She unlocked her door and headed upstairs to her apartment.

Santana followed and smiled when she got into her friend's place. "Yeah, I'll have to go pick her up sooner or later."

Quinn laughed, tossing her jacket onto the coat rack. "I'd guess you like a break every now and then yourself. Don't worry, you can get to your girl later and crawl in bed with the midgets."

"I should just take her home, honestly," Santana said as she pulled off her own jacket then unbuttoned her dress shirt. "I'm not stripping, I just hate this shirt," she remarked before shrugging it off and shoving it in her bag. She straightened out her tank top before flopping down on Quinn's couch.

"Didn't actually think you were," she chuckled. "Make yourself at home. Do you want anything to drink?"

"If you have a beer that would be amazing," Santana said as she leaned back and untied her hair. "I like your apartment, Q. It's very you."

"Thanks," Quinn called back from the kitchen, coming in and tossing Santana a beer. "So," she took a breath flopping down on the couch beside her friend, "you really think I was just screwing with you in the bar?"

"Yeah," Santana said simply before taking her drink and popping off the cap. She took a long pull of the liquid before settling it on her thigh.

"That's... that's just dumb, San." She shook her head, taking a swig of her own drink. "I'm not going to screw with you about that. You're hot and if it was one-on-one, I would have taken you up on just about any offer you made after Beth... before that I was too scared."

"It's easy to say that now, Quinn." Santana sighed, and picked at the label on her bottle. "It's not worth it to even talk about it."

"Santana," she reached over and rested a hand on her friend's arm, "listen to me and believe me when I say that if I wasn't seeing Jay in just a couple days for our first date... I'd ask you not to leave tonight."

The other woman just closed her eyes. "Yeah... timing is all kinda of special," she mumbled softly.

Quinn took a breath. "Yeah," she breathed, nodding. "San... I... I want to ask you to stay anyway," she admitted, "but I know it's not fair to you because I'm seeing someone in a couple of days." She looked down at the bottle in her hands. "But I still want to..."

"It's been close to six years for me, Q..." She exhaled slowly. "I... I have a kid and I'm not able to be irresponsible anymore."

Quinn let out a wry chuckle. "Thanks for calling spending the night with me when we both know Brooklyn is safe with Rachel irresponsible." She tightened her lips with a sad smile, nodding slowly.

Santana reached over and took Quinn's hand. "It's not irresponsible to spend the night with you when I know where my kid is... It's irresponsible for me to be with you and fuck up our friendship. The fact I work for you and _your_ ex-girlfriend alone sucks... but like... I... it's been a really long time... and I'm scared that I'll get hurt and that will affect my kid and I can't let that happen." She sniffled. "Plus, fuck... God, Quinn, you don't really want me like that."

"How would you know what I want?" she asked softly, breathing in an unhappy breath. "You're right. I'm your boss. It's... inappropriate. It's always inappropriate, isn't it? You've got a kid and... and Rachel... and," she sighed, "you and I have never been a possibility at all, has it."

After a swig of her beer, Santana put the bottle down on the table and looked at Quinn. She looked at her for a few moments before taking a breath and moving to straddle the woman's thighs. "If you can honestly - _honestly -_ tell me that you want to be with me for any reason more than the fact you missed a chance in high school... or because I'm pathetic and haven't come in six years... I'll stay."

Quinn sighed, unable to keep her hands from resting on Santana's hips. "I want to tell you I have one," she whispered, "I want to think we have a chance. But... I can't do that with Rachel being into you and Jay wanting to date me." She looked sad admitting it, but she did, "I can't hurt that many people just because I'm attracted to you, San..."

"Rachel is not into me." Santana groaned. "Stop saying that."

"She's been into you since at least high school, Santana. God, didn't you see how she watched you? Or how quick she was to take your side or reach out for you? Even when she yelled at you, she felt terrible as soon as you left..." She shrugged, "Sometimes I think I was just a stand in in college for you..."

Santana chuckled sarcastically, "I think you all are rewriting history. She never took my side or stood up for me. No one did, she never challenged Finn... You never challenged Puck or even Sue when they hated on me, so why should I think this means anything." She let the tears fall from her eyes freely, tired of holding them back all the time. "Everyone knew about Brittany and Artie before I did... Finn helped get them back together while you and Berry where playing nurse maid."

"San," Quinn shook her head, reaching up to wipe the tears away, "she stood up for you more than I did. Remember when everyone was willing to believe you sold us out and she was the only one who just believed you when you told us you didn't? And she's the one who chewed Schue out after he kicked you out over the piano fire that _I_ started. Finn's an asshole, but she was so convinced he was what she needed to succeed in life that she didn't want to say anything and risk him breaking up with her _again_ over his juvenile behaviour... We _all_ failed you, Santana. But at least she tried..."

"It doesn't matter," she sniffled, her hands falling onto Quinn's shoulders. "Why can't... Why does everything have to be so hard?" she whimpered, her body falling into soft sobs. It had been a long time since Santana had let the weight of everything fall down on her. Her tears fell freely down her cheeks as she lost the fight over her emotions.

"I don't know," she whispered, pulling her friend into her arms and holding her close, "but she looked for you, Santana. Your parents had to get a restraining order against her, she was over there so often asking about you. She wanted to find you so bad that summer... now she has. Now you're back in our lives where you belong and we can help try and make things better than high school, okay?" She murmured, rubbing Santana's back.

"Why couldn't you just want me?" She whispered in between sobs.

"I can't do that to Rachel," she admitted, her voice cracking slightly. "And I can't do that to you. You deserve someone who can love without any reservations or second thoughts. I always doubt myself, San... you know me..."

Santana just nodded in the crook of Quinn's neck. "It hurts."

"I know," she whispered, turning her head to press her lips against Santana's cheek as she held her close, not even realizing that tears were streaking her own face. "I know..."

After awhile, Santana's tears started to cease. She pulled away slightly and rested her forehead against Quinn's and just closed her eyes.

"Santana," Quinn finally whispered softly, "I know we can't... do more, but... can I please kiss you? I've wanted to for years but I was always scared... I know timing sucks and I'll understand if you don't want me to..."

"Okay," Santana whispered, keeping her eyes closed but her fingers lacing in Quinn's hair. "Okay, we can."

Taking a shuddering breath, Quinn's eyes fell closed as one hand slipped up to cup the back of Santana's neck and pull her the last little bit of space to connect their lips softly. It was a strange mixture of sweet and electric, tinged with the salt of their tears as their lips moved against each other. A first kiss, but if it had to be a last as well, she wanted it to be good and memorable.

Santana whimpered. It had been the first kiss she had been given since her last kiss with Brittany. She tightened her arms around Quinn's neck as she kissed back tentatively. Quinn let a soft moan escape her as she let Santana lead the kiss, giving her permission to take it as far as she wanted or needed it to go as she stroked her free hand along the woman's back, her other hand lightly gripping her neck, nails teasing along her nape.

A soft nip to Quinn's bottom lip allowed Santana to slide the tip of her tongue into the blonde's mouth. She slid closer so she could be flush against her friend as she slowly explored her mouth. Quinn tilted her head, opening her mouth to give her access, comfortable with allowing things to continue as long as it was just kissing, hands where they couldn't cause any trouble.

Santana pulled away, her breath laboured as she looked at Quinn. "I want to stay," she admitted, knowing it was a bad idea.

"I want you to too," Quinn admitted, swallowing, her lips swollen from kissing Santana, "but... I think it might ruin everything..."

"Yeah," she whispered, sitting back and sighing.

"I really, _really_ enjoyed kissing you," she admitted softly, smiling shyly, "so much I'll probably need a ice bath or a _long_ session with my toys before I'll be able to sleep tonight..."

"Fuck," Santana whimpered, her hand coming to rest on Quinn's stomach. "What kind of toys?" she bit her lip as she asked. "Just in case I try to think about it later."

Quinn was trembling slightly from arousal, but she fought to keep her breath. "I think maybe a vibrating dildo," she whispered, her eyes barely opened. "I think I might climax more than once tonight..."

Santana licked her lips. "Is it big?" she asked curiously, her nails languidly moving over Quinn's stomach.

"Kind of. I could show you someday," she whispered, watching Santana. "Maybe you could get one like it."

"Maybe," she replied. "But, I prefer fingers," she said as she looked up to Quinn's face. "You are really beautiful like this."

"Like what?" She laughed breathlessly. "Incredibly turned on by one of my best friends?"

Santana just nodded and stilled her hands, "This was a bad idea... I don't want to leave."

"I know," Quinn swallowed, "I'm sorry I asked for that..."

"No, I'm glad." Santana smiled, leaning down and pressing a light kiss to her friend's lips. "I needed that."

Quinn dragged her eyes all the way open, letting Santana see how dark they were. "Me too," she whispered, before letting out a wry chuckle. "I'm going to be needing fresh panties after this too. God, you kiss amazingly, Santana..."

"So do you," Santana said as she rolled off Quinn's lap. "Yeah, I'm gonna be wet for awhile."

"Timing sucks." Quinn laughed softly, rolling her head to look at her. "If only we'd done this a couple months ago. I bet I could have rocked your world, Lopez."

"I don't doubt it," she said, leaning over and kissing Quinn's cheek. "Enjoy your dildo." She smiled, getting up and grabbing her jacket. "I should go get Brooklyn."

"San," Quinn spoke softly as she got up, but her eyes were pleading with her friend, "stay at Rach's tonight. Please? It's late. The subways will stop running soon and I'm sure Brooklyn's comfortable. Besides... I don't want you on the subway smelling like," her nostrils flared slightly as she inhaled the musky aroma of Santana's arousal, " _sex_. Go to Rachel's, take a cold as hell shower, and stay there. Okay?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna need one to spend the night in bed with the cuddle whore." Santana sighed. "This is ours... right? We don't wanna hurt anyone." She looked up cautiously. "You're my best friend and I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"It's ours," Quinn reassured her. "Only ours." She reached over and brushed back a bit of Santana's hair, "I'm going to remember this... how you looked above me after our kiss. It's going to be my special thing." She smiled softly, but it turned into a smirk. "But as for you... Rachel's into you. Trust me. If you ever want help like _that_... just ask her."

"I'm not gonna ruin something my daughter loves just for sex," Santana said, rolling her eyes as she put on her coat. "But, thank you for making me feel like I mattered for a little while... Oh! And wear one of your dresses with a cardigan. Look like yourself, you're beautiful and he will love whatever you decide to wear."

Quinn stepped close and hugged her tight. "Thanks, San. I've missed you so much the last few years. I'm glad you're back. But, listen up, I'm right about Rachel," she shook her head at the look Santana shot her with a little smile, "and nothing you ask her for will mess up what your daughter loves. It'll just make it... more. Wait and see. I bet you I'm right."

"Whatever, Fabray," Santana said once she parted from the hug. "Enjoy your orgasms. See you on Monday." She smiled as she left the apartment and headed for Rachel's.

"I'll just imagine you watching," Quinn called down the hall teasingly before closing the door and locking it.

* * *

When Santana got back to Rachel's, she found it quiet. She slipped off her shoes and coat before peeking her head in the bedroom to see Rachel and her daughter cuddled up together asleep. Santana smiled and watched them for a few minutes before grabbing a pair of her pajamas out of Brooklyn's overnight bag and slipping into the bathroom to have the much needed cold shower.

When she came out later, Rachel was blinkingly sleepily up at her. "Hi, baby," she whispered, dreamily, clearly not really awake, "everything okay at work? Did you have fun with Quinn?"

Santana came over and sat on the edge of the bed and nodded. "Just vetting new hires, then Q and I had a beer," she said as she towel-dryed her hair. "How was Brooklyn?"

"Amazing as always," she yawned, reaching for Santana. "Come to bed. We missed you."

Santana pressed her lips to Rachel's head. "I'll be there in a minute," she whispered as she got up and finished drying her hair and tiding up after her daughter.

Rachel pouted, but smiled blearily at the kiss. "Okay. But hurry up. And don't forget to bring the fish in from the pasture in the morning, 'kay?"

"Okay," Santana laughed as she locked the door and took a sleeping pill before climbing into bed next to her daughter who automatically attached herself to her mom and rolled more or less on top of her.

Rachel whimpered at the loss of warmth and moved over to wrap herself around Santana. An arm slid over her chest, cuddling Brooklyn as well as a leg hooked over the taller woman's hip. "Good night, Sannie," she whispered, yawning as she rested her head on Santana's shoulder.

"Night, Rachel," she said as she held her daughter close and closed her eyes trying to not think of the conversations, realization and events of that day.


	12. Chapter 12

With only four hours to when Jay had agreed to come pick her up, Quinn had to admit she was starting to feel the first nervous flutters of anticipation. She could feel the corners of her lips turning up in a shy smile as she remembered how nervous he'd been about asking her or the way his voice had cracked excitedly when she'd accepted. It was sweet. _He_ was sweet. And in four - no, three and a half, she noted glancing at her clock again - he would be calling her to come down from her apartment so they could leave.

She'd smiled when she was heading down the block towards the subway that would take her home to get ready and heard the soft jingle of her phone in her purse, indicating a text. Pulling it out as she got her apartment door open, expecting something from one of her friends or maybe even something from Jay, she'd fallen back against the door as it shut behind her in disappointment as she read the text on the screen.

**From Jay: I'm sorry but I can't make tonight. Buddy's having a baby and I promised I'd take his shift when it was time if he needed it. I'm so sorry, Quinn. I hope you'll forgive me. :(**

Quinn stopped, holding her phone in her hand as she read the text. She almost laughed - was it too much to look forward to something? To have something to look forward to, something that was just hers? She swallowed and tapped out a message on the screen. **Yeah, it's okay. I get it.** She hit send and shoved her phone into her pocket again.

She had wanted this date so much. She had turned down something she _wanted_ with Santana because she might have a chance at something with Jay. But of course that was going to be messed up. She kicked at the ground and walked off in the direction of Rachel's apartment. It was going to be a long walk but the cold air would be a good distraction from the tears that threatened to fall.

* * *

When Rachel heard the buzzer for the front door of her building, she'd been in the middle of baking cookies, the warm aroma of vanilla sugar and baking filling her apartment. Wiping her hands on her apron, she hurried over to the callbox by her door and pressed the responder, "Yes? Can I help you?"

"Hey." Quinn exhaled into the speaker, not really having any more energy than that after walking nearly 30 blocks.

"Quinn?" Startled, Rachel hit the buzzer to unlock the front door, and hurried to unlock her apartment door.

Quinn stood looking at the floor when Rachel opened the door a few minutes later. She was dressed in a simple earth toned dress covered by her Black peat coat and her body trembled with cold. "Hey," she mumbled as she scuffed her feet on the welcome mat.

"Oh, Quinn," Rachel whispered, reaching out to pull her into a hug and inside the apartment, closing the door behind her. "Are you okay? What am I saying? Of course you're not, come sit down. Can I get you anything to drink? Tea, hot cocoa?"

"I walked from the office," Quinn sighed as she shrugged off her coat and carefully removed her flats. "Tea, please," she whispered as she looked up at Rachel.

"Oh my gosh, why would you do that?" Rachel looked shocked as she readied the kettle - preferring the aesthetics of using a kettle to make tea over the microwave - to boil water for their drinks. Placing a couple of fresh cookies on a small plate, she came back over and took Quinn's coat and shoes, trading them for the cookies. "Curl up in the blanket there," she nodded at the soft throw over the back of the couch, "and warm up. I'll be over as soon as the tea's ready."

Quinn sighed as she slid onto the couch and pulled her legs up to her chest. She wrapped herself in the blanket and closed her eyes, berating herself because she knew better than to get her hopes up. "I needed to clear my head."

As soon as the water came to a boil, Rachel poured two mugs and settled a couple of teabags in to steep, coming over and setting hers on the table as she handed Quinn her mug. "You know you're always welcome here, Quinn. Tell me what's wrong?"

"Jay blew off our date." She mumbled, her eyes looking down. "I shouldn't have even gotten excited about it."

"Oh no!" Rachel pulled Quinn into a hug, "I'm so sorry to hear that, Quinn. Are you sure he just blew you off? You did tell me he was a member of law enforcement, perhaps he had a good reason?"

"Something about having to take a shift." She sighed. "It doesn't matter..." She picked up her tea and took a sip. "I shouldn't have looked forward to it."

"Of course you should have, Quinn," Rachel shook her head. "I'm sure he feels bad about this... Don't give up yet."

She sighed, "Why can't I get anything right?" She asked softly, "I just seem to fuck everything up every time I try to follow my feelings."

"No you don't," she reassured her, rubbing her shoulders and kissing the top of her head. "It's not your fault he cancelled. Don't blame yourself."

"I hurt people. I couldn't give you what you wanted and ruined us, I can't spend too much time around Santana, and I'm wanting Jay so much to be something I want that my heart hurt when he canceled." She sniffled. "Am I that unloveable?"

"You didn't ruin us, Quinn," Rachel whispered, cuddling her close. "You gave me everything I wanted, but we were just _bad_ for each other. I'm afraid we might have ended up killing each other if we'd stayed together. But you're not unloveable. Never say that." She pressed her lips to Quinn's hair. "Never. I love you so much even now. When we were together I loved you so much it felt like I'd be torn apart from loving you sometimes. You just want," she sniffled slightly, remembering, "you want someone who will love you. Someone you can care for and will care for you back. There's nothing wrong with that."

She nodded. "I want that. I want to be able to love someone," she whispered. "Why can't I?"

"You might as well ask why can't I?" Rachel smiled lopsidedly at her, brushing fingers through her hair. "I know you can, Quinn. I know you can be an incredibly loyal and loving woman and I am honored that you allowed me to see that side of you at one time."

"If you tell Santana that you like her, you could love her," Quinn mumbled as she rested her head on Rachel's chest over her heart.

Rachel chuckled ruefully. "No, I couldn't." She shook her head. "She doesn't want me like that." She swallowed, smiling sadly. "She made it very clear in Los Angeles when I tried to tell her. It's okay though. I'm lucky to get to be her friend and part of Brooklyn's life. Jay's not like that though. He asked you out. He showed interest, Quinn."

Quinn laughed sadly. "Rachel," she said softly, "put yourself where Santana is. She hasn't been with anyone or even been wanted like that in six years. After what can honestly be categorized as the worst, most unhealthy relationship ever." She sighed and looked up. "She's scared and doesn't think _anyone_ could want her. She's blind."

"Quinn, I like to think I know the difference between blind and not interested, okay?" Rachel shrugged, smiling lopsidedly. "I've had a lot of experience with it over the years, you know. I," she swallowed, blushing, "I practically threw myself at her and," she shook her head," she's just not interested, Quinn."

"Did you really throw yourself at her?" Quinn asked. "Did you really? Because, that's not how she interpreted it. She doesn't even think you _like_ her." She pointed out, "She's been really hurt so she can't see that you want her."

"Quinn," she whimpered, hurt and wanting the subject to be dropped, "it was embarrassing enough... I don't want to go through that again. God, I admitted that she caught me t-touching myself because I couldn't stop thinking about her. What more did I have to do? Tear my clothes off and _beg_?" She trembled, shaking her head. "No. If she wants me then... she'll have to come to me. Because right now it's pretty clear to me that she doesn't. And," she swallowed, trying to change the subject back to Quinn, "Jay isn't like that. He's not, Quinn. He showed an interest in you and came and found you to ask you out... that's a good thing."

"Give her time." Quinn sighed and wrapped Rachel's arms around her body. "She's fragile just like you." she said softly as she played with Rachel's fingers. "Do you think he'll still like me if he knows I gave up Beth?"

Rachel smiled, resting her cheek on Quinn's head and watching her play with her hands. "I think he'll understand that you gave your baby the best life you could," she whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of Quinn's head and hugging her. "How could anyone not like you, Quinn? You're kinda of perfect and amazing you know," she teased.

"I'm not." She whispered, "I... I'm dishonest and not a good enough friend."

"Dishonest?" she looked confused. "What do you mean? You're one of the most painfully honest people I know, Quinn. And you're my best friend."

"I can't be around Brooklyn," she admitted for the first time out loud. "It hurts too much."

"Quinn," Rachel shook her head, "that doesn't make you dishonest. Is it because of Beth?" she asked softly, having talked with her friend about the little girl with ties to both of them in the dark of the night several times through their relationship.

"I keep..." She took a breath, "It's not fair." She swallowed and closed her eyes. "I can't help being angry that Santana got to keep her baby."

"That's not dishonest," Rachel whispered, putting Quinn's cup aside and pulling her awkwardly into her lap. "That just means you're hurting. It means you miss your baby. I'm sorry you couldn't keep Beth, Quinn..."

"It's dishonest when I make excuses to not be around them or with her." She whispered, "It's not fair, Rachel. It's not fair that she got to keep her."

Rachel closed her eyes, holding Quinn close. She hated seeing the woman in pain, but she couldn't in good faith agree that it wasn't fair. "Quinn... Santana gave up everything to keep Brooklyn," she murmured softly. "Her family, her home, her friends... she worked _awful_ jobs and had to give birth _alone_... We don't even know if she got to a hospital for the birth. Could you have done at fifteen what she scraped through at seventeen?"

"I was sixteen," Quinn whispered. "But my.. my mom offered to help me raise her. To keep her and I still was too selfish to keep her. I handed her off to the first person who asked without even vetting to see if it was the right choice!"

"Quinn," her voice broke, "please don't beat yourself up. Your mom was still drinking. Did you want Beth to grow up with that? You made the choice you had to make at the time. And... if you'd kept her, would you have ever got out of Lima? Would you be here now? Would... would we even be friends?" The last was whispered softly, hesitantly, as if she was afraid of the answer.

"I know," she whispered. "I'm... it's just... every time I'm around them..." She closed her eyes and tried to hold back tears. "Santana gets someone who will always love her."

"You'll have that too," Rachel whispered, trying to comfort her friend. "You're young, Quinn, and _very_ attractive. The prettiest girl I've ever seen, remember? You'll find someone and you'll get your happy ending. Until then... I'm going to love you, okay? You're my _best_ friend and I can't imagine living without you."

She nodded and tucked her head in the crook of Rachel's neck. After a few minutes of silence. "Give her time, Rachel." Quinn whispered, "Just give her time, she'll get there. I promise."

"I don't want to talk about that," she mumbled against Quinn's hair. "I've learned not to dwell on things I can't have so... I don't want to talk about it."

"She'll get there." She whispered, "Please give her time,."

"Quinn..." There was a note of warning in her voice. "I really don't wish to discuss Santana and your assumption that she has any interest me. I'm done with that. I'm not investing any more into it. She's my assistant," she shook her head, sadly, "and if I'm lucky, I can call her a friend too. But that's it. Now please..."

Quinn sighed and nodded. "Do you have any wine?"

For a moment she almost thought better of it, but she smiled and nodded. "Sure I do. Want to watch ridiculous romantic films while we indulge? I've got fresh baked cookies..."

"Yes, please," she whimpered. "Can I change into something not fancy?" she asked as she got up, "I don't really want to wear this dress anymore."

"Sure," Rachel smiled at her, "you know where my loungewear is. I think I still have some things of yours in there. Shall I order us dinner while you're changing? Whatever you'd like."

"Just want wine and cookies," Quinn mumbled as she headed into Rachel's bedroom. She slipped out of her dress and folded it on Rachel's bed. She unhooked her bra and pulled a plain white t-shirt over her head and then pulled on a pair of her sleep pants that she found in Rachel's drawer. She washed her face clean of make up and pulled her hair into a messy ponytail and came back into the living room.

"Wine and cookies it is then," Rachel murmured, bringing in a large plate of cookies and a bottle of wine with two glasses. "What would you like to watch? You know I have all your favorites for moments like these," she teased, trying to cheer Quinn up a little.

"Can we watch this?" She looked over Rachel's movies and selected a particular box that was not in the clearly labelled _romance_ section. "I wanna watch Ewoks," she added as she handed Rachel the final episode in the Star Wars series.

Rachel smirked as she popped the Blu-ray out and slid it into the player. "Sure, we can watch Return of the Jedi." She climbed back on the sofa after pressing play and pouring two glasses of wine. "I should have known part of your interest in me was a predilection towards small, cute things. Though the furry part I can't help you with," she teased, nudging her friend and cuddling up beside her.

Quinn smiled. "I like little and you have have enough fluffy things in your bedroom to keep my attention occupied," she said as she took a long sip of her glass. Quinn laid her head in Rachel's lap and reached for her hand and linked their fingers.

She laughed softly as the opening credits rolled. "I knew my stuffed animal collection would come in handy someday," she teased. "If I'd known it would get me in your bed though, I'd have let you find out a long time ago."

"I'm a simple girl," she said as she sat up and drained her glass before refilling it and laying back down. "I liked your bed... and having you in it."

"I liked coming home to you," Rachel admitted softly, playing with her hair. "I've missed having you around, Quinn. Even when we fought, I looked forward to seeing you when I came home."

"I like that too, especially when I'd come home to you naked," she whispered. "I really liked that."

Rachel blushed. "I should have known that was your favorite recollections. You'd inevitably be receiving as much sex as you could handle in those incidents." She brushed fingers over Quinn's cheek. "It was how I liked to tell you about things that made me happy. Like when I got my first role."

Quinn nearly moaned at the memory. "Yeah... that was good," she said, her eyes falling closed and her fingers stroking Rachel's.

"And sometimes when I wanted to do something I didn't think you would like... like the awards show," Rachel chuckled ruefully, remembering how Quinn's jealousy had flared over the attention her diva girlfriend was receiving. "Or... well, I remember _after_ better than the show, if I'm honest."

She nodded. "Rachel," Quinn whispered softly, her body reacting to the words and memories. She bit her lip, knowing that her breasts were peaked at the arousal running through her body. She looked up, her pupils dilated as she looked at her former lover.

"Hmm?" Rachel murmured, glancing down from where she'd been watching the movie. "Is something wrong, Quinn?"

Quinn moved the other woman's hand that was resting on her stomach up onto her breast. She watched her and searched her eyes for any reaction. Rachel's breath caught in her throat at the familiar feeling of Quinn's breast under her hand. Her throat worked to try and bring moisture to the sudden dry feeling in her mouth.

"Quinn?" she asked softly, unsure. "What are you asking me for?" She had to be sure, her eyes searching her former lover as her tongue darted out to moisten her lips.

The blonde just leaned up on her elbow and pressed her lips against Rachel's. The smaller woman's kiss was comforting, unlike Santana's which was purely new and uncharted. Rachel's mouth felt like home after kissing it so many time. She kissed her needing the connection and comfort of her best friend and the one person she could trust to love her no matter what.

Rachel moaned softly into the kiss, her arms sliding to support her former lover as she moved her lips against hers. Pulling back slightly, she searched Quinn's eyes for hesitation or doubts. "Are you sure?" she whispered, just as she had the other two times they'd fallen together out of loneliness after breaking up.

"Please," she whispered. "Just tonight, okay? Just... just love me tonight?" she asked softly as she pulled the woman back into another kiss.

"As friends," Rachel agreed softly, letting her fingers slide up easily to tangle in her hair. "I love you, Quinn," she whispered, kissing her gently, undemanding, just letting her know she was there for her.

"We can still fuck right?" she whimpered as she looked at her once they pulled away from the kiss. "I... I can't stop." She whispered, "I can't keep stopping."

Rachel shook her head. "We don't have to stop," she murmured, "but let's go to bed, okay? If I'm going to make love to you tonight, I don't want to do it on my couch." Her voice was soft and she deliberately kept herself from asking about who she was stopping with as she smiled down at the woman in her lap and stroked her cheek. "You're still the prettiest girl I've ever seen, Quinn."

"You're still the most amazing person I've ever met," she whispered as she sat up and got up on shaky legs. "It's been awhile... I'm kinda nervous."

"It's been just as long for you as it has been for me," Rachel reassured her, standing and leading her by the hands back to the bedroom, leaving Return of the Jedi playing on the TV, "but I understand it's entirely like riding a bike. Once you know how, you never really forget."

"Yeah," she said with a shaky breath. "I mean with you... it's been awhile since we've been together," she said as she slid her hands around Rachel's waist. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," she whispered, reaching up to wrap her arms around Quinn's neck. "Are you sure you want this, Quinn? I won't hold it against you if you don't."

"I don't know what I want," she admitted. "I can't think clearly. I never can when you're around me like this."

Rachel blinked then nodded slowly. "Do... do you want me to go? Until you can decide what you want?" she whispered softly, letting her hands slide down until they were just barely resting on Quinn's arms. "I can if you want. Whatever you need tonight, Quinn."

"I want you here." Quinn whispered, "You make me happy and you make me feel better when you are around." She closed her eyes and pressed her lips to Rachel's neck.

"Okay," she murmured, trying to focus past the feelings Quinn's lips on her neck were arousing in her, "but... we... we can just cuddle if you want. I promise we don't have to do anything else unless you're sure, Quinn."

"Rachel," she whimpered, trying to go on, but finding herself unable. "I can't... I'm so scared," she said as she sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands.

Rachel sighed - she'd had a feeling things would go this way. Sitting down beside Quinn, she slid an arm around her shoulders and tugged her close, kissing her shoulder. "It's okay, Quinn. I told you we don't have to and I meant it. I would like you to stay tonight though," she admitted softly with a shy smile, "as my friend, if not as a lover. If it is entirely acceptable to you, I would enjoy the chance to hold you tonight."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I keep doing this to you." She whimpered, "I'm the worst friend... I'm the worst ex girlfriend."

"Why? Because you like to cuddle?" She laughed softly. "Or maybe because you have this evil ability to make me aroused when I least expect it? None of those things make you an awful ex. Not for me anyway." Rachel smiled softly at her. "I'm always going to love you, Quinn. One way or the other. You're part of my family - of my heart - and that's important to me. Don't beat yourself up over this, okay?"

She laid back and sighed. "I want to sleep with you... I find you so amazing and so sexy," she whispered as she closed her eyes. "I want to be able to do this."

Rachel laughed softly. "No, you don't. I know you find me attractive and making love with you was always the best part of our relationship, but you want the relationship. You want someone to be in love with you while they're making love to you and you deserve that too. You always felt guilty the next day when we had our drunken encounters previously after breaking up. It's better this way, Quinn. We know how close we can be without it being too much." She smirked, nudging Quinn's shoulder, "And how close we can be is a lot closer than a great number of people who consider each other exes, right?"

She nodded. "I love you," she whimpered as she rolled onto her side. "I don't want to feel guilty anymore."

"There's nothing to feel guilty about," she whispered, curling up behind Quinn and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. "I love you, Quinn Fabray, and I always will. I can promise you that."

She nodded and closed her eyes. "You're the best thing that ever happened to my life, Rachel. You know that right?"

Rachel murmured soft agreement as she hugged her close. "I know and you're mine. Just sleep, Quinn. You'll feel better in the morning."

She nodded and curled into her body and tried to breathe through her thoughts as she settled into sleep.

Rachel held her for a long while, just listening to the soft sounds of her breathing as she slept while Return of the Jedi power-saved off in the living room. The lights were still all and there were things to clean up, but she didn't care. She nuzzled the soft clean-smelling hair tickling her nose and snuggled Quinn a little closer as she finally let herself drift to sleep with her best friend in her arms.


	13. Chapter 13

The sun had just started to peek through the shades when Quinn blinked her eyes open. She watched Rachel sleep for a few moments as while she woke up. She let her fingers gently trace over the smaller woman's features, her face relaxed and content in her sleep. Everything was always easier for Quinn in the dawn hours. Nothing was frightening and no one was pressuring her, the little voices telling her she wasn't good enough were quiet and they let her feel love and comfort. She carefully rolled off the bed they once shared that now smelled slightly like the woman she almost spent the night with a few days before, before slipping her dress back on and going into the bathroom and putting on a little bit of make up.

She leaned over and kissed Rachel's lips softly before scribbling out a note on the kitchen counter.

**Rach, I had an early meeting. You are the light in my life that has kept me sane over the last few years. I love how you know me better than I know myself. Thank you. Love always, Q**

She slipped on her shoes and coat, snatching two cookies on her way out the door to grab a cab back to her office.

* * *

When she got to the office, the first thing that clued her in that something might be odd was the knowing smirk on the secretary's face. Shaking her head at the odd behavior, she pulled her jacket off and headed further into the office only to stop. And stare.

There, slumped against the wall in a chair - probably dragged over by the receptionist - was Jay. He was still in his uniform, rumpled from a shift spent in it, a day's worth of stubble on his cheeks, and a bouquet of what looked like lilies cradled gently against his chest. His uniform hat rested in his lap on top of the heavy jacket he'd been wearing the night before.

At the sound of her footsteps coming down the hall, he roused himself, looking tiredly in her direction. When he realized it was her, he scrambled to his feet, nearly loosing coat, hat _and_ flowers, but at the last minute he managed to grab the flowers and his hat. She could see him trying to make himself presentable as she headed down the hall towards him.

"Q-quinn," he stammered before clearing his throat. "Look, about last night... I am _so_ very sorry. I had no idea Sandy was going to go into labor last night, I swear."

"Take a breath," she said as she opened her door. "Come inside." She asked as she stepped inside, "What are you doing here, Ajay? You look like you're exhausted." She glanced at the secretary looking at them from down the hall and mouthed _coffee_.

"I've been up all night," he admitted tiredly. "Ended up pulling a double so Jake could be there for his first kid." He shook his head, looking at the flowers dazedly for a moment before blinking in recognition and holding them out, "These are for you. I don't really know what kind of flowers you like but my sisters all say that lilies are the prettiest so I was hoping you'd like them. They," he shrugged sheepishly, toeing at the ground, "they were supposed to be given to you last night but instead they've been in a vase in my apartment for like the last twenty four hours, so I hope they're not messed up or anything." He sighed softly. "I really hope you'll forgive me for cancelling on such late notice. I really didn't want to..."

"Jay..." She smiled softly, taking the flowers and smelling them. "They're beautiful," she remarked as she laid them on her desk. "You didn't have to bring me flowers after you worked a double shift."

"No," he shrugged, smiling sheepishly, "I had to bring you flowers cause they were for you in the first place and I needed to apologize for cancelling like I did. And," he took a breath as if stealing himself for a big task, "I felt I should come in person to apologize and ask if you'll please consider going out with me tonight. I'll get on my knees and beg if I have to," he pointed out with a wry grin. "My sisters say girls like it when guys do that..."

"You don't need to beg." She blushed as she reached for his hand. "You don't have to work so hard, Ajay," Quinn added as she looked down bashfully. "I'll go out with you tonight if you don't think you'll be too tired."

"If it means I get to go out with you," he smiled lopsidedly, "I'll gladly stay up for a week. No way am I going to be too tired tonight. And of course I have to work so hard," he teased. "A beautiful woman like you probably has tons of suitors. I've got to prove my worth."

"I'll happily go out with you tonight," she said softly, "but... can.. can you not do the whole proving yourself thing?" She bit her lip. "Just be yourself."

"This is myself," he admitted quietly, gesturing to himself. "I'm a boy who grew up with nothing but sisters and hasn't really had a date since high school. Not for lack of trying," he hurried to defend himself, "but... not a lot of women want to date the uniform. Or well," he shrugged, "there's badge chasers, but I'm not into one night stands."

She smiled fondly. "Maybe I'm just not used to nice guys."

"That's a shame. Because you should be." He shrugged, smiling shyly.

Quinn shrugged. "Maybe, but I'm not sure if I truly deserve it." She sat on the edge of her desk. "I'm also very surprised you don't have a line of women waiting for you to bring them flowers."

"Like I said, the uniform throws most women off." He shrugged again. "Not many are willing to be a cop's girlfriend or wife. It's kinda stressful and the hours can be awful. Full disclosure up front." He smiled at her. "But a lot of the women who _do_ want to be with a cop aren't exactly waiting on _flowers_."

"I don't even know what that means," she admitted with a nervous blush.

"Means they're only into sleeping with cops." He laughed tiredly, shaking his head. "It's not my scene. I prefer someone who wants to spend time _outside_ of bed, if you know what I mean."

Se nodded. "I don't just sleep with guys," Quinn replied softly. "So, that's not my thing. I've only really had two real boyfriends."

"I've had one real girlfriend and she dumped me at graduation." He laughed at himself, running a hand over his face. "I think we're going to exhaust our dinner conversation at this rate."

"You should head home so you don't sleep through our date," she teased, tapping his nose with her index finger. "Why don't you text me with a location and a time when you wake up? Plus some of us work day jobs."

"Ouch, you wound me!" He covered his heart with his hand, grinning at her. "How about I just pick you up tonight at seven in front of your building like we planned last night? Probably no reservations this time, but I still think we can make a memorable evening, don't you?"

"I think that sounds good." Quinn smiled, gesturing towards the door. "Go home and get some sleep, officer."

He straightened up and saluted. "As you command, Ms Fabray. I'll see you tonight." Smiling, he backed out of her office before turning and heading for the elevators out.

Quinn just smiled and said a silent prayer of thanks that she didn't have to feel guilty. That she and Rachel didn't do anything that she felt bad about.

* * *

At six forty-five, he pulled up out front of her building on the back of a vintage 1953 red Indian Chief with sidecar and licked his lips nervously as he looked up at the brick building. Parking by the curb, he pulled off his helmet and hung it on his handlebars before doing his best to slick his hair back down. Double checking that the spare helmet was still in the seat of the sidecar, he picked up the neat bundle of daffodils from beside it and got off the bike.

At the door he pressed the buzzer for her apartment, waiting apparently patiently for her to respond. Inside though, his heart was beating double-time under his leather jacket. He just hoped she wouldn't be turned off by his ride.

Quinn quickly rushed down to the front steps. She had come home from work early to get showered and ready for the date. After a frantic skype call with a laughing Santana to help her pick the right dress, she had finally settled on a forest green dress with cap sleeves with her camel colored boots that reached up her calves peaking out from under the overcoat she'd hurriedly thrown on before running out of her apartment. She smiled when she saw him standing with flowers outside the door building's door.

"Hi," she said shyly, opening the door. "You're early."

"I'd rather be early than late," he admitted with a shy smile, holding out the flowers. "For you. I, um, I hope you don't have a problem with motorcycles..."

"They're lovely," Quinn smiled. "Let me put them in some water before we go?" She asked as she motioned to the stairs that lead up to her apartment as she stepped back to let him in before heading back upstairs. She unlocked her door, letting him in before she headed into the kitchen to put them in water.

He stood nervously in the foyer of the tiny apartment, waiting for her to be ready. It'd taken some wrangling, but he'd managed to get a nice table at a local seafood place. His eyes widened as he realized that he'd never asked if she had any dietary restrictions.

Clearing his throat nervously, he spoke up. "Um, Quinn? You don't have any... food allergies that I should worry about, do you? I want you to enjoy dinner, not have a allergic reaction after all."

"Nope, I like everything." She smiled coming back in. "Shall we go?" she asked as she tucked her hair behind her ears.

He nodded happily, offering her his arm. "Of course. You never did say if you have a problem with motorcycles or not though," he reminded her as he lead her back down the stairs and out to his bike. "I hooked the sidecar on for you and brought my spare helmet... but if you have a problem, I can park it and we can catch a cab."

"No, I've never been on one before." She smiled as she took his arm, closing her door behind her as they walked out. "I'd like to take it."

He grinned down at her. "Daring. I like that in a woman." Reaching the bike, he picked the helmet up out of the side car before helping her in and getting the helmet fitted. "Comfortable?"

"I feel silly, but yes," she said as she wiggled around a bit."You're sure a cab's not going to crush me?"

"If a cab crushes you, it'll get me too. But don't worry, I'm an excellent rider and I'm very good at avoiding cabs as well as other vehicles." He smiled at her as he straddled the bike and strapped his own three-quarter style helmet on. "Just relax and enjoy. If you like it, maybe we could go for a ride in the country some time."

She nodded nervously as he turned the bike on. She squeaked softly at the motor before he moved forward. Laughing softly, he reached down and squeezed her shoulder, smiling at her before pulling out into traffic.

He drove carefully, even a little slowly to allow her to get used to the feeling of riding in the sidecar. "How's it feel?" he called down, leaning over slightly to be heard over the whip of the wind. He was grinning, but his eyes never left the road.

"Kinda frightening," she said over the rev of the motor. "Feel like that silly television show I used to watch on Nick at Night."

He blanched, risking a glance down at her. "Sorry. I'll come in a cab next time. We're almost there, promise."

"No, I like it. It's just something that I've never done before," she said as she looked up at him. "I trust you."

He glanced over at her as they idled at a stop light and smiled lopsidedly, making him look younger than he was. "You do? We only just met, Ms Fabray," he teased, before pulling away from the light. "But I promise, I'll take care of you." A couple minutes later they were pulling into a tiny lot tucked behind the restaurant. Cutting the engine off, he dismounted and came over to help her out of the sidecar. "Here we are. I hope you like seafood."

"I like everything," she reminded him as she took his hand and got out of the contraption. She took off the helmet and shook out her hair before her looked up. "That does nothing for the hair," she joked as she followed him towards the door.

He reached out and gently tucked a wisp of hair back behind her ear. "For what it's worth," he smiled softly, "I think you look beautiful like this." His fingers lingered for a moment on her cheek before he flushed slightly and let his hand drop. "Sorry. Let's go inside, shall we?" he suggested, offering his arm.

She blushed furiously. "Thank you," she whispered, taking his arm as she ducked her head down so she could regain her complexion. "Let's," she said a moment later.

He smiled, ushering her inside and whispering to the host before the young man smiled and nodded, escorting them back to a table tucked into an alcove not far from the kitchen. He helped Quinn into her seat before taking his own. "I know it's not the best seat in the house or anything, but it's kinda the best I could do on short notice. Hope you don't mind."

"You did make a reservation," she teased as a smile played on her lips. "You are full of surprises aren't you?" she asked, sliding her overcoat off and hanging it on a hook on the post of the alcove.

"Only good ones, I hope." He laughed with a lopsided grin, handing her a menu. "Order whatever you'd like. I've eaten here once or twice on my own and I can vouch for the salmon and cioppino as being delicious, so I imagine most of the other things should be on par."

Quinn nodded and smiled as the waiter lit a candle on their table and poured their water. "It seems like a great place, it smells really good."

"I wanted to bring you somewhere nice." He smiled shyly and busied himself with the menu. "I think I'll try the filet of sole with a baked potato and side salad, Greek vinaigrette on the side, please," he murmured to the waiter when he returned. "What would you like, Quinn?"

Quinn looked through the menu and folded it closed. "May i please have the lemon aioli salmon with the Israeli couscous with the same salad as well?" she asked as she handed the menu to the waiter.

Jay grinned at her as the waiter left. "I like a lady who isn't afraid to eat real food," he admitted. "I'm... I'm really glad you agreed to come out with me tonight, Quinn."

"The previous person I was with was a vegan," she said with a shrug. "I like to be able to have fish and not feel mildly guilty." She took a sip of her water and smiled. "I'm really glad you asked me out. Even if I had to practically force you to," she teased.

"Hey," he chuckled, holding his hands up defensively, "you didn't _force_ me to do anything. Maybe encouraged strongly, but I went willingly, thank you very much."

"Good, I'd hate to hold you here against your will," she said as she put down her glass.

"Somehow, I doubt you could find something that would qualify as against my will, Quinn." He smiled charmingly, sipping at his water. "Tell me about yourself? What makes the beautiful Quinn Fabray smile?"

"I like lots of things. My friends make me smile and, despite the stress, I really like my job."

"That's good." He sipped at his water, watching her interestedly. "It's good to like your job. I love mine, despite some of the unpleasant stuff that goes with it sometimes."

"I bet you see a lot of crazy things. New York is kind of a sick and twisted place compared to what I'm used to." She said, "Very different from where I used to live. What about you? Are you from here? Did you grow up here?"

He nodded. "My family lives in Ramapo now, about an hour from here, but my dad was a cop with the NYPD." His lips twitched in a wry grin. "My _uncle_ however was with the fire department... and not exactly pleased his Irish Catholic sister was dating a former Sikh and current NYPD cop."

She smiled fondly listening to him. "I bet," she said with a laugh. "Plus there is probably a pretty big divide between police officers and firefighters."

"A bit." He chuckled, shaking his head. "The rivalry's mostly friendly though. Sure there's a few dust ups now and then, but it's not a big deal. We all protect and serve in our own way after all, right?"

"They're both very noble professions." She smiled, leaning back slightly when the food was delivered to their table. "This looks lovely."

"Thank you," he said with a smile up at the waiter, snapping his napkin out to lay across his lap. "It does look delicious. Now to taste." He smirked, using his fork to cut a piece of his fish off and slide it into his mouth. "Mmm, as good as I'd hoped. How's yours?"

She took a dainty bite of her food and nodded, not speaking until she fully swallowed it. "It's very good. Would you like to try?" she offered softly as she folded her napkin in her lap.

"I'll trade." He grinned, showing off white teeth. "A bite for a bite." Scooping up a small bite of his fish, he leaned over slightly to offer her the bite, free hand cupped under the fork to catch the piece if it fell off. "Here."

She blushed a dark pink as she leaned over and carefully accepted the taste. She smiled and chewed as she did the same movement for him with hers. He accepted with a teasing smirk, sitting back down.

"Delicious," he murmured at her, enjoying being able to make her blush. "So," he asked, continuing to eat neatly, "what kind of things do you do for fun? I mean, you don't work _all_ the time do you?"

"Sadly, I'm still just starting out in my career so I do work a lot," she said before taking a sip of her drink. "But I like to go to the gym when I can. I have two very good friends here in New York that I spend a lot of time with, mostly because they work with me." She smiled and tilted her head. "What do _you_ do for fun?"

He shrugged. "Does working on my bike count? I like to run. I had to in the Academy but I found I enjoyed it, so I try to run at least a mile every day. I like being active, it keeps me in good shape and it just," he offered a lopsided smile, "it just feels good, you know? Moving, demanding everything from your body and knowing that it can give it to you."

"I totally know how that feels." She smiled. "I was a cheerleader in school... don't laugh at me but our coach was worse then some drill sergeants I'm pretty sure and we used to have to run five miles before practice."

"Why would I laugh?" he asked, gesturing with his fork. "Cheerleaders looked like they were working harder than the football players where I went to school."

Their conversation went on in that vein for the rest of dinner. The slowly becoming comfortable patter of strangers turning into friends. They finished their meals and he paid - insisting that it was only right as he'd asked her out and if she wanted to ask him out, she was more than welcome to pay in that instance - before escorting her back out to the sidecar and tucking her in with a blanket over her legs against the chill.

Getting back to her building, he parked the bike and hopped off, hurrying around to offer his hand to help her out of the sidecar. "I've had a wonderful evening with you tonight, Quinn," he murmured, supporting her balance with a gentle hand on her waist as she stepped down. "And I'd truly like to do it again sometime." He looked at her with a hopeful smile as he settled her on the ground. "That is, if you'd be open to the idea."

She nodded and pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled. "I'd like that," Quinn said as she started walking backwards slowly towards the stairs to the entrance of her brownstone. "I'd like that a lot. Would you like to go see a movie with me some time when you're off next?"

"I'd like that." He smiled, escorting her to the door of her building. "Any excuse to see you again sounds good to me right now." He reached out and gripped her hand gently. "You're the sort of woman I think I could spend a lot of time getting to know," he brought it up to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently, "and still find new things about."

"I am a very complicated person," she teased as she let him kiss her hand, her heart fluttering softly as she watched him. "But, I think I feel the same about you."

"That's good, except," he grinned at her, "I'm not a very complicated person." He reached up, still holding her hand, to brush a lock of hair from her cheek. "I'm pretty straightforward, in fact. When I'm feeling confident, I tend to just say what I want." He cupped her cheek gently, thumb brushing over her skin feather soft. "Like, right now, I really want to kiss you, if that's okay."

Quinn didn't trust her voice to not waiver nervously, so she nodded and smiled. She rolled up onto her tiptoes to become more level with his lips as she fell into the gentle kiss he placed upon her lips. He kissed her softly, unhurriedly and undemandingly. It was sweet and gentle, a tentative caress more than a burning fire as he cupped her cheeks.

She smiled into the kiss and pulled away after a few moments. "Thank you for an amazing date, Ajay."

"It has been my pleasure," he whispered, smiling softly. "And it'd be my pleasure to accompany you on as many more as you like in the future, Quinn." He straightened, taking a step down from the stairs. "Now... I should probably go or I'll end up kissing you again and with as little sleep as I've gotten the last couple of days..." He chuckled, breaking off with a frown as his phone buzzed in his pocket. Digging it out, he laughed. "Look at that!" He turned the phone so she could see a skinny black haired man with a big grin and a tiny pink wrapped bundle in his arms as he sat next to a tired looking woman smiling at the camera. "That's my buddy Jake and his wife Sandy with their new baby girl. Only thing that could have kept me from our date last night."

She leaned closer to see it better with a smile. After a moment of looking at the photo, she looked up and kissed his lips softly again. "That's because you get big goofy grins when you see babies," she whispered as she pulled away and got up on the step. "Text me when you get home so I know you didn't get clipped by a cab?"

If she'd thought he had a goofy grin looking at his buddy's new baby girl, she should have waited to see the one that crossed his face after she kissed him. "Definitely," he breathed. "I will _definitely_ text you when I'm home safely again."

"Alright." She smiled, waving at him. "Talk to you soon," Quinn said she bit her lip and blew him a kiss before ducking into her building.

"It's a promise," he called softly, waving back with a silly grin before going and hopping back on his motorbike and strapping his helmet on. He waved up at her apartment again when the lights flicked off and waited until he saw her in the window before driving off.

* * *

Upstairs, Quinn leaned against the window and watched him drive away with a dazed smile on her face. She shook her head, almost unable to believe the night had happened. The slight tingle of her lips where he'd kissed her and the faint hint of his cologne still lingering in her nostrils just made her smile though.

She took out her phone as he vanished around the corner and texted Rachel. **It was amazing. You were right. Thanks for last night. - Q**. Looking at the text, she nodded and hit send before scrolling through her contacts again.

 _Santana Lopez_ came up and with a grin she hit the call button. Listening to it ring, she bit her lip, smiling happily as she dropped down on the sofa.

* * *

Santana grabbed her phone from where she was sitting on the floor of the living room. "What up, Q?" she asked into it before she leaned back from where she was writing out checks. "How'd it go?"

"Fairy tale." Quinn sighed happily. "An honest to God fairy tale, San."

"Aww," Santana said with a smile, "That's adorable. Tell me everything. Did he smell good? I like boys that smell good."

"I know," she rolled her eyes, but she couldn't stop smiling. "He smelled... like warm leather and cinnamon. He picked me up with an old _motorcycle_. Can you believe it?" She laughed, toeing her shoes off to clatter on the floor.

"Oh damn, Judy would be pissing herself if she knew that." Santana grinned and hopped up and laid down on the couch. "What did you do? His sleepy flowers really pulled a number on you to get a date the night after he stood you up."

"It had one of those side things on it." She laughed. "It's not like I had to wrap myself around his back to stay on, San. He even had a helmet for me. And his sleepy flowers were sweet. He obviously felt awful about missing last night, but he got a text just a little while ago with the picture of his friend's new baby girl. You should have seen him, San, he was so adorable smiling at that new baby photo."

"That is sickeningly cute," she remarked. "Seriously. So what did you do? Dinner?"

"Yeah. He actually managed to get a reservation at that seafood place on fifty-seventh. We should go there some time," she mused. "Like a girls' night out. Just you, me, Rachel and," her voice caught slightly as she forced herself to include the invite for Santana's daughter, "Brooklyn. It was really delicious."

"I can get Rita to take Brooklyn for a few hours," Santana said softly. "She doesn't need to go there it's fancy," she added, hearing the discomfort, "Tell me more about the date."

"San, I'll never be okay around Brooklyn if you keep hiding her from me," Quinn pointed out softly. "It'll be nice. The restaurant isn't _that_ fancy but Ajay got us this little alcove booth and it was almost like we were the only one's there. It was very sweet and he _listens_ when he asks a question. He isn't just asking, he actually cares, you know?"

"I'm more thinking for my sake, I don't wanna go out and be a mom all the time," she replied as she distractedly played with her navel piercing. "That's so cute. He put thought into the date... what else happened?"

"We just... talked. It was nice." She smiled, curling up on the couch with the phone. "Then... he drove me home."

"Mmhmm. I bet. Dish, Fabray!" She grinned as she heard her friend's bashfulness. "Did he walk you to the door?"

"He did," Quinn smiled, her voice teasing.

"And?!" Santana exclaimed. "Woman, we didn't fuck because you wanted to get your man love on. Now, dish!"

Quinn laughed. "Watch your mouth around your kid, Santana! We kissed... well, he _asked_ and _then_ we kissed..." She sighed softly, smiling happily with her fingers brushing her lips. "It was... it was different from kissing you or Rach..."

"Well he's a boy," Santana said with a smug grin. "I'm also a fucking awesome kisser and my child is asleep in her bed so I can swear if I want."

"You are _definitely_ an amazing kisser, Santana," she allowed with a grin, teasing, "but Rach might beat you on technique." Laughing at the splutter of discontent on the other end, she continued, "It was different than kissing Puck or Sam or Finn too. It was like... there wasn't any pressure at all. I didn't have to worry or do anything but just... kiss him."

"I'm fucking protesting the shit out of that," Santana complained. "No way... I'm better." She crossed her arms across her chest and pouted. "But I'm glad you got your dude kisses on."

"No," she teased, loving that she could still get a rise out of the other woman, "I'm pretty sure she's got you beat. You have no idea the things she can do with that mouth. I'm seriously not at all surprised how she landed Finn _and_ Puck out from under me without even having sex."

"You are just pissed you didn't get to get into my pants and see what all the fuss is about." She said, "I had you writhing with just my mouth, Quinn. You were wet as fuck."

"I could say the same about you," Quinn pointed out with a smirk. "And who's pissed? I actually know what I'm talking about. You're just jealous cause you can't see what all the fuss is about Rach's mouth."

"Watch it, blondie," Santana warned teasingly, "you are not gonna trick me into trying to mount midgets."

"Who's trying to trick anyone? I'm just saying that I've got the experience to do a direct comparison these days," she pointed out with a smug smirk.

"I don't like you anymore," Santana grumbled.

"Nope." Quinn laughed. "You love me and you just wish you could get up on this. Or _maybe_ ," she drew the word out teasingly, giving her oldest friend a hard time, "you're just jealous cause I've gotten Rach's lips and you haven't."

"Shut it, woman." Santana groaned. "You're done talking about that now." She got up and headed into the kitchen and grabbed a box of her daughter's cereal and went back to the couch.

"You and Rachel are such wet blankets about it," Quinn pouted. "I can't talk about you with her and now I can't tease you about her. You _do_ realize the two of you are all I have to gossip about, right?"

"No. You have a _boyfriend_ ," Santana pointed out with a smirk as she picked out a handful of cereal and munched on it.

"I can't exactly gossip about _myself_ , Santana." She rolled her eyes. "What are you eating?"

"This odd organic cereal Rachel bought for Brooke, it's like trail mix... but it says it's granola," she said furrowing her eyebrows at the box, "I'm just very confused."

"Sounds like one of those Nonuttin' mixes. She's got a thing for those." She laughed softly, when she realized how Santana had gotten them. "She's buying you groceries? And you say she's not into you," she teased.

"My kid saw it when they were at some wacky vegan store and batted her eyes and got a present." Santana rolled her eyes and she munched on another handful.

"Are you talking about Whole Foods? Or the co-op Rachel's so fond of?" Quinn asked curiously. "Because I used to buy those puff things at Target."

"Co-op," Santana said. "I mean it don't suck... but I don't want Rachel to buy things for Brooklyn."

Quinn sighed, knowing this was going to be an argument. "She's never had someone to buy stuff for like that, San. No little brothers or sisters, no nieces or nephews or cousins. If it makes her happy to buy Brooklyn a box of cereal - _healthy_ cereal, mind - what's the harm?"

"I don't want her to expect to get things when she's with Rachel. It's not Rachel's job to buy the kid food." Santana sighed.

"I doubt she gets something every time she's out with Rachel, San," Quinn pointed out, sitting up and folding her legs under her. "Besides, Rach's got that stuff at her place so Brooklyn probably already asked about it or tried it during one of their midget bonding sessions."

"Prob." She sighed as she put the box down. "Why are we talking about me again? You're the one with the new boy."

"Because you're one of my best friends and I worry about you," Quinn murmured softly. "I want you to be happy, San."

"How is cereal not making me happy?" she asked as she got up and shoved it back in the pantry.

"How would cereal make you happy?" she asked curiously. "What am I supposed to say about Ajay? He brought me flowers, we went to dinner, he brought me home and walked me to the door. He kisses me like... like I'm something precious, San. He's gentle and sweet... and," her voice got almost shy, "we're going to go to a movie together on his next day off."

"Aw, my little Quinn is growing up!" Santana gushed before laughing. "I'm really excited for you, Q. Honest."

"Shut up!" Quinn laughed. "I've been grown up for quite a while now you know."

"Maybe," Santana teased. "Alright, you should go to bed and so should I. I'm glad you had a good time, Quinn. You deserve it."

"So do you. Don't lock yourself up, San. Let someone in to love you, okay?" she whispered, soft over the phone. "You deserve it after everything. You more than anyone."

"That's just not true," Santana replied. "I'm going to sleep. See you tomorrow."

"Oh bullshit it's not," Quinn scoffed. "'Night, San. See you tomorrow."

"Night," Santana sad before hanging up the phone and brushing her teeth before flopping down on the futon in the bedroom with Brooklyn and drifting to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Brooklyn came out of her bedroom in her Spider-Man pajamas. She didn't care that they were supposedly for boys, she had liked them so her mom had bought them for her. She had her hair brush in her hand and her teddy bear in the other.

"Will you brush my hair?" she asked the woman sitting on the couch. She had eaten dinner with her mom before Rachel came over after her show to hang out with her while Santana went to the gym. After several pages in the coloring book and a bath she was nearly ready for bed.

"Sure, sweetie," Rachel smiled at her, patting the sofa beside her. "Come on up here and I'll brush it out for you. I'll try to be really gentle, okay?"

The little girl paddled her slipper covered feet over to Rachel and hopped up on the couch. "Here." she said as she handed her the brush, "Mine's gots no tangles." she said, "Mommy's hair tangles cause it's thick."

"Your mommy's hair is very beautiful though," Rachel murmured, beginning to brush Brooklyn's hair out with long, gentle strokes. "And I bet she takes good care of it too, doesn't she."

"Yes, she's pretty like inside the magazines." Brooklyn stated, "She's the prettiest and smartest mommy, ever." she exclaimed as she held onto her bear.

Rachel smiled, laughing softly. "I'm sure she is and you're the prettiest and smartest little girl ever, right?" she teased gently. "After all, you've got to match, right?"

Brooklyn smiled, "You think so?"

"Absolutely," she grinned at her when she looked back over her shoulder. "I've never met a prettier or smarter little girl than you after all."

"I think you're pretty too, Rachie." Brooklyn said, "Mommy says so too."

"Does she?" Rachel asked softly, continuing to brush out Brooklyn's hair, "That's nice of her."

Brooklyn smiled and hummed softly to herself for the rest of the time Rachel spent on her hair. "When's she coming home? I like when mommy's here and you're here."

"In a little while," Rachel murmured, setting the hair brush aside and letting the little girl crawl into her lap. "I like being with both of you too, Brooklyn. You're kind of some of my favorite people in the whole world you know," she teased gently.

A small fist came up to rub at her eye as she nodded. "You tell me that every day!" she reminded Rachel as she rested her head against the woman's shoulder. "Bathtime makes me sleepy."

"Because it's true every day," she laughed softly, moving until she was lying down on the couch with her head propped up on the arm. "Do you want to nap until your mom gets home to tuck you in?" she asked softly, running a hand over the little girl's back.

"I can stay with you?" she asked softly, "I don't like sleeping in my room without mommy."

Rachel nodded. "You can stay with me, sweetie. Any time your mom's not here to sleep with you, you can stay with me. Okay? That's a promise."

Brooklyn's thumb went into her mouth as her head dropped to the woman's chest. She closed her eyes and let herself fall asleep to a heartbeat that she was becoming as familiar with as she was Santana's. Rachel sighed softly, one arm loosely wrapped around Brooklyn as the other gently caressed her hair. She watched the little girl sleep with a gentle smile, not even realizing when she drifted off herself while waiting for Santana to come home.

* * *

When Santana got home she got concerned at the silence of the apartment, until she looked at the couch. Brooklyn was draped over Rachel, and both were asleep. Santana slid off her jacket and kicked off her running shoes. Her hair was still damp from the shower she took after her workout but she had managed to remember a change of clothing to come home this time. She walked over closer to them and leaned down to detach her child from Rachel gently as to not wake up either of them.

When the warm weight of the little girl lifted from her chest, Rachel mumbled a sleepy protest and reached for her. "W-where? What...?" Most of the rest was incoherent as she started sitting up, "Brooke?"

Santana pressed her hand to Rachel's shoulder. "It's me, I'm just going to put her to bed," she whispered, leaning in to press soft peck to Rachel's cheek.

"Wha..?" Only partially awake, Rachel turned her head in the direction of the voice filtering blurily into her consciousness.

Santana's innocent kiss slid onto Rachel's lips when her head moved. She froze for a moment before her hand moved to cup Rachel's cheek as she pulled away, "I... should put her to bed."

The kiss had been enough to push her more awake. "Santana?" A hand rose slowly to her lips as half awake eyes followed her friend's hasty exit. "Oh," she whispered sadly, her fuzzy mind deciding it had to have just been a dream. Sighing softly, she pushed herself up right and started fumbling for her shoes and things. It was a work night, after all, and she'd never stayed overnight at Santana and Brooklyn's apartment anyway.

Santana came out and saw Rachel getting ready to leave, "Oh..." she said softly, shaken by the fact they had kissed and Rachel was leaving. "You... don't have to go."

"Don't I?" she asked softly, looking up tiredly at Santana. She'd never been invited to stay overnight, so she assumed it wasn't something Santana wanted after the mess in LA.

"I mean, I intrude at your place all the time," she said, "but, if you're tired... I'll understand."

"It's not an intrusion, Santana," Rachel murmured softly. "I invite you every time. I don't like being alone, but if... if it bothers you, I'll stop." She looked sadly at the floor, pretending to look for her shoes to hide how hard it was to control the expressions on her face when she was tired.

"I don't like being alone either," she admitted, "I don't want you to take a cab back downtown this late..."

"How am I going to get home then?" she tried laughing but it came out sad. "The subways will stop by the time I get there. I know you don't like me," her voice caught as if she wanted to stop there, but she pushed the sentence on, "being here overnight. I'm just attempting to respect your wishes..."

"I love you being around! I just hate my hellhole apartment and my futon," she pouted, "I want you to stay... then Brooklyn can have her stuff but it's embarrassing sometimes because it's shit here."

"You want me to stay for Brooklyn." Rachel's jaw worked as she pushed down a rush of sadness at being reminded that Santana didn't want her to stay for _her_. She nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Okay. I'll stay for... for Brooklyn."

"Oh my god, stop." Santana groaned, "I want you to stay for me, I'd invite you more but it's a terrible place compared to your apartment."

"It's not bad," Rachel shrugged, trying not to get her hopes up. "I think Quinn and I lived in worse when we first moved off campus, actually. I'll stay, Santana. If that's what you want. It's okay."

"You drive me insane, Rachel," Santana said as she moved to lock the door. "You are dense as hell when your tired," she said as she led Rachel into the bedroom and folded down her bed. "I'm sorry if your back hurts in the morning," she said ruefully.

Rachel's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What am I being dense about exactly? And don't worry about my back, this can't be any worse than when I fell asleep on my coffee table one night studying."

Santana raised an eyebrow, "Crouched over it? Or on top?" she asked as she pulled a pair of pants out for Rachel to wear and a shirt. "And you're dense about me wanting you to stay. I always want you to."

"Why is it dense to think tonight would be different than any other?" Rachel asked with a yawn, stripping out of her shirt and bra with a quick tug, and pushing her skirt over her hips so she was just in her panties before fumbling for the shirt and pants Santana had provided.

"Because I realized my shit apartment doesn't bother you... and that despite my issues with it you're happy to just chill and nap with my kid," she whispered and tugged her sweatshirt off and pulled on a long sleeve shirt on before pulling her yoga pants off and crawling next to the wall wearing her boyshort underwear.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, finally getting the clothes on and crawling into bed with Santana, almost instinctively wrapping herself around the other woman. "Brooklyn," she yawned, nuzzling Santana's shoulder absentmindedly, "Brooklyn's sweet and I don't see this place as a detriment to spending time with her. I," she yawned again, "I love her so of course I would."

"She loves you too." Santana said, as she pulled her blankets up over them. "It will be good to wake up to you here..." she caught herself, "She'll love it."

"Okay," Rachel mumbled, hugging the woman tight with a soft sigh as she let herself fall back asleep.

"Mommy," came a little voice out of the dark, tired and petulant, "Rachie, shh. It's sleepy time. Go sleeps."

Santana smiled and chuckled. "Sorry, baby," she said, "Love you." she whispered as she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep.

"Love you too, Mommy," came the little voice. "And Rachie. Nights."

* * *

The next morning, Rachel didn't wake as early as she usually did without the light coming through the blinds of her bedroom to reinforce the alarm going off on the clock beside her bed. She was warm and fairly comfortable and it was easy to stay asleep. She shifted in her sleep, rolling more onto what she thought was a warm pillow that smelled pleasantly of Santana.

What she didn't realize in her slumber was the "pillow" actually _was_ Santana. At some point in the night she had ended up more or less on top of the other woman, a thigh nestled between her friend's legs and one of her hands cupped a hip, fingers curling just under the waistband of Santana's boyshorts. Her head rested pillowed on a warm breast, Santana's shirt having rolled up in the night to leave her lips a bare inch from a nipple grown taut from her breath flowing over it in her sleep.

Santana whimpered in her sleep, the hours of a firm object nestled in between her legs pushing up on her just so had begun to cause her body to stir. She rocked slightly on Rachel's muscular thigh as she let her mouth drop open with a sigh. Rachel grumbled softly, tightening her grip on Santana's hip and nuzzling against her breast as if to complain about her "pillow's" movement.

Her breath quickened as her hips started to move on their own accord. Slowly, they started to rock and cause a slow build up in the woman's lower body that she hadn't felt in some time.

"San," Rachel breathed in her sleep, her body's reactions to the movements of the woman under her and the faint scent of arousal and the unique smell that was Santana's seeping into her nostrils changing the shape of her dreams. Her nails lightly scraped over Santana's hips as her hand clenched and relaxed as she shifted again with a low murmur.

"Fuck." She mumbled, her hips moving a little bit quicker as her brain started to catch up to her body's feelings. "Rae." She whimpered, her voice breathy and full of need. "Please."

Not even close to waking up, Rachel couldn't have responded the way Santana wanted her to even if her sleeping body had the coordination to pull it off. She whimpered, her lips just brushing the nipple by her lips, but she shifted just enough that her thigh was pressing more firmly into Santana's core. The scent of her own arousal was starting to seep through her clothes to mingle with Santana's.

Santana's hands clutched onto Rachel's back as the direct pressure to her core jolted her body awake. "Oh fuck," she gasped softly as her body arched, her eyes squeezing closed as she rocked against Rachel's thigh.

The tightened grasp on her body and increased movement beneath her startled her awake. She jerked, her leg pressing hard into Santana's core as she gasped, breath hot over the nipple that had been so close to being in her mouth. She squirmed to get away as she realized what was happening and felt a current of shame at what she was doing to her friend in her sleep, but Santana had a tight grip on her.

"Keep going," she mumbled. It had been too long. Her body couldn't stop and she was so close that she couldn't even fathom how to stop at that point. She bit her lip hard as she arched up, knowing Rachel could hear her heart pounding in her chest.

Feeling like she was destroying her friendship for her body's weakness, Rachel rocked against Santana. She dragged her eyes open and watched her, tried memorizing her face, how she looked so close to the edge as she brought her hand up from where it had been on her hip to tentatively cover the woman's breast. "Santana," she whispered, wanting to beg for this to be okay, for it to just be part of their relationship - for them to _have_ a relationship past friendship - but she couldn't find the words.

After a few more minutes, Santana's body arched dramatically and her mouth fell into a silent _oh_ as she tumbled over the edge for the first time in years. Her breath was labored, her body humming with pleasure as she let her back fall to the mattress. Rachel stared at her, searching her face as her arms finally loosened their grasp on her, feeling like she could cry.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, carefully pulling away. "I... I promised I wouldn't and," she licked her lips moving to sit on the edge of the bed and feeling miserable. "I'm sorry... please don't hate me..."

Santana whimpered at the loss, her eyes fluttering open when Rachel moved. "No." She whispered, her hand reaching up and tangling in the back of her top. "It's good... don't... don't leave."

"I don't want to leave," she whispered, trembling as she gripped the edge of the bed. "I don't want to lose you or Brooklyn..." She swallowed harshly, feeling sick at the very idea. "But... I... I want that, Santana. What just... just happened. I want that and... and I don't think I can keep denying it. I hate that you don't want me like that..."

"I... can... I just came can... can we talk when my head is thinking correctly?" she whimpered, "Plus, oh God," she gasped causing her to sit up quickly, her eyes bugging out of her head. "Brooklyn." She sighed in relief as she looked over to see her daughter was still asleep. "Thank God."

Rachel stayed where she was though every instinct was telling her to get dressed and leave before she got thrown out. "Okay," she whispered, feeling even worse that what happened happened while Brooklyn was in the room. She shook her head, "Sweet Barbra, I'm... I'm an awful person, aren't I? Your little girl was _right there_ and I... I..." she trailed off.

"You were asleep." Santana whispered, "I woke up and couldn't stop. I asked you to continue." She whimpered and rubbed her face. "I'm sorry for making you feel bad... I couldn't stop..."

She shook her head, finally glancing over at Santana. "I... it's not _that_ , Santana. I just," she bit her lip looking sad, "I _want_ that with you. I've been wanting it for a while and I kept hoping like a little idiot that maybe some day you'd want me like that too and it'd be okay." She swallowed, turning to look at the floor again, "but I can't keep my hands to myself and I've ruined it haven't I..."

"You haven't," Santana whispered, she said as she reached for Rachel's hand. "I want that too."

Rachel slowly looked up from the hand gripping hers to meet Santana's eyes. "You do?" she asked softly. "It's," she licked her lips, looking smaller than usual, "it's okay?"

"Yes," She said softly. "I... I can't.. define this okay?" She whispered, "It's just too hard for me right now... with Brooklyn and working for you." She sat up and looked at Rachel. "Maybe we could talk about it more later?"

She nodded jerkily, looking somewhat hopeful, "So, um, do you think maybe we could," she bit her lip shyly, nodding at the bed in indication of what they'd woke up doing, "again some time? Because," she blushed, swallowing with a shy smile, "I'd really like it if we could. But... without Brooklyn in the room..."

"I'd like that too." She whispered, "I should go and get a shower because she's gonna be up soon and I think that I can't think straight."

Rachel laughed softly, blushing slightly. "I think you make me not think straight," she teased before licking her lips and swallowing before leaning in, only to pause before kissing her. "Is... is this okay?" she whispered softly, looking up at Santana.

Santana noticed Brooklyn stirring as she pressed a quick peck to Rachel's lips. "Not near my baby, okay?" She whispered regretfully as she looked at Rachel pleading for her to understand.

She nodded with a tiny smile, reaching out to squeeze Santana's hand gently. "Of course," she whispered, "I'm going to make some breakfast, alright?"

"Thank you." She said as she got up and checked on her daughter before slipping into the bathroom. She quickly showered and tried to gain control over her emotions before she needed to go and wake up her daughter.

* * *

Heading into the kitchen, Rachel looked around until she found the basic things for a fruit salad. Cutting things up, she mixed it in a bowl before starting some bread toasting for Santana and Brooklyn. Once she was done though, she found herself unable to ignore what had happened with Santana. Her body still burned with need, but she forced herself to ignore it. What Santana was allowing her was far more than she'd ever expected and more than anything, she wanted to keep it.

Hearing the bathroom door open, she slipped back towards the bedroom after gathering her clothes. "Do you mind if I borrow your shower?" A blush tinged her cheeks, "I... I think I need to, um... cool off."

Santana blushed. "Go ahead," she said as she tightened her towel around her chest before leaning closer and smiling, "I revoke the rule. You should feel free to think about me."

Rachel's eyes grew wide for a moment before she smiled shyly and ducked her head, a blush darkening her cheeks. "I probably couldn't resist if I tried at this point," she admitted softly. "There's fruit salad on the counter and I made toast for you and Brooklyn since I assumed you wouldn't want that much sweet to start her day without a counterbalance."

"Thank you," Santana smiled as she pushed her hair behind her ears and walked over to her dresser and took off her towel shyly and looked through her drawer looking for underwear. She knew Rachel was watching her as she stood bare with her back to the woman.

She couldn't help herself from running her eyes over Santana's shapely figure - or rather staring a bit fixedly - but after a moment she gave herself a little shake to break free and blushingly turned towards the shower with her clothes clutched to her chest. "Oh," she paused in the door, "where would you like me to place the clothes I borrowed? I'm afraid they might, um... be a little soiled..."

"Throw them into the hamper," she said as she pulled her sports bra over her head and over her chest. As she pulled her underwear and jeans on, she added, "I'll do laundry today." She smiled, pulling a tank top over her head and moving to slide into Brooklyn's bed and began to kiss her daughter's head to wake her up slowly.

"Okay," Rachel whispered, blushing as she realized she'd just watched Santana get dressed before ducking into the bathroom for a barely warm shower.

Santana smoothed her hand over Brooklyn's back and pressed butterfly kisses to her daughter's cheeks. "Mariposa," she whispered, "It's time to wake up."

"Rachie?" the little girl asked sleepily, blinking up at her mom and smiling hopefully.

"She's in the shower, baby." Santana smiled, "She made you breakfast."

"Yay," she yawned, slowly sitting up to hug her mom. "Morning, Mommy. I like when Rachie's here with us."

"Me too," she smiled and hugged her daughter. "Want to have breakfast in jammies? Or do you wanna get dressed first?"

She hummed softly, thinking about it for a moment with a decidedly pensive expression before nodding sharply. "Dressed. School today?"

"Alright, butterfly," she smiled and picked her up. "Wanna pick out your own clothing?"

"No school?" she asked sadly, looking up at her mom. "I wear uniform," she carefully sounded out the word, "on school days, Mommy. Right?"

"Silly me," Santana said as she kissed her daughter's nose. "I'm a silly Mommy. I forgot since Rachel was here and we normally have her on Friday nights," she said. "Put on your uniform and Mommy will help with your tights."

"Okay!" Brooklyn cheered, wiggling down to get her uniform off the hanger on the door knob and climbing back in bed to pull off her pajamas and get the white polo and skirt on. "I like school, Mommy. Are you or Rachie coming to get me after?" she asked, kicking her feet as she fumbled the buttons on her polo closed.

She smiled and she held her daughter's waist as the girl fixed her shirt. She fastened the little skirt and grabbed the navy blue tights and helped her girl into them. "I'm so happy you like school. Do you have Spanish during your special classes?" she asked as she grabbed the brush off of the table and pulled her onto her lap. "And yes, Rachel and I will pick you up."

"Both of you?" Brooklyn twisted around in her mom's lap to look up at her with big happy eyes, "Yay! I have Spanish sometimes," she added, turning back around and folding her hands in her lap. "Ms Sally is my teacher and she's nice but she only can come once a week."

"That's okay. We can practice at home," she said as she brushed out her child's hair and started pleating it. "You have art today right?"

"Uh-huh. I'm gonna make pretty pictures for you and Rachie and Aunt Quinn, okay?" she smiled happily, bouncing slightly in her mom's lap.

"Aw, thank you, baby!" Santana said as she tied the braid and put Brooklyn on the floor. "Breakfast time," she said as she tapped her daughter's butt lightly. "Milk, juice or tea?"

"Milk please!" Brooklyn piped up, pushing her chair back from the table and clambering into it.

In the bathroom the water shut off and a couple minutes later a chilly and slightly trembling Rachel walked out adjusting her clothes. "Good morning, Brooklyn," she smiled at the little girl, leaning down for a hug and kiss on the cheek. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Very good, thank you," she grinned cheekily up at Rachel. "What's for breakfast?"

"Fruit salad and toast," she replied, going to get three bowls and filling them with portions for each of them before bringing them back to the table. "Good morning, Santana," she murmured with a shy smile as her arm gently brushed the other woman's at the counter.

Santana smiled, "Hey," She said as she poured Brooklyn's milk and made green tea for Rachel and black for herself. "How was your shower?" She smirked.

"Sufficient to distract the mind," she replied with a slight quirk of her brow. "Don't tempt me to attempt payback at a later date, Santana."

The young mother smiled as she brought the cups to the table. "Your milk and please say thank you to Rachel for making you breakfast."

"Thank you for the milk, Mommy," Brooklyn smiled up at her, taking a sip, "and thank you for breakfast, Rachie."

"You're very welcome," Rachel grinned at her. "Are we dropping you off at school today?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, stabbing a piece of banana with her fork. "Please?"

Santana sat down and smiled shyly and ate her fruit and toast as Rachel and Brooklyn chatted about random things. She got up and cleaned up the kitchen and grabbed her blazer and her daughter's lunch and put it in her backpack. "Alright, Mariposita." She smiled, "School time."

"School!" Brooklyn cheered, sliding out of her chair and running to wash her hands and face.

Rachel smiled shyly at Santana as she gathered up hers and Brooklyn's dishes and took them in the kitchen to clean up. "It's going to be a little difficult working with you today," she murmured softly, reaching out to brush a finger along Santana's wrist as she walked past her. "I'm going to want to touch you I think."

"You don't have a show today," She said with a nervous smile. "I... I had a down day planned for you and I was going to just hang out and do work from your apartment in case you needed me," She pointed out.

She took a breath and leaned in to kiss Santana's cheek. "I don't think you'll get much work done today," she whispered before leaning back with an almost sly smile as Brooklyn ran back in to wiggle into her jacket and backpack.

"Okay, all ready!" she chirped, reaching for her mom and Rachel's hands. "School time!"

"Alright," Santana clapped, pulling her jacket on and grabbing her leather messenger bag and keys. "Rachel, coat and scarf you have a show tomorrow," she said as she put Brooklyn's scarf on her and took her hand.

Rachel raised a brow in the midst of pulling her coat on. "Why yes, mother, I never would have considered putting my coat and scarf on," she teased. "It's only in the forties outside, why would I ever consider doing such a silly thing as putting on warm clothes?"

"Rachie!" Brooklyn gasped up at her, "No sass! You hasta do it cause Mommy says!"

Santana beamed and nodded. "See?" she smirked, "You have to do it."

"Only you," she shook her head, wrapping her scarf around her throat and tugging her floppy felt hat on. "Cab or subway?"

"Brooklyn's choice today," she said as she took her daughter's hand as they left the apartment.

"Subway!" she chirped. "Subway with Rachie, please. I wanna shows her how to go to home and school like we do, Mommy."

"Subway it is," she said as she headed towards the entrance. She picked up Brooklyn as they swiped their Metrocard and went through the gate and waited on the other side for the diva.

Rachel dug her card out and swiped it before heading through the gate to join the other two as they headed down to the trains.

* * *

Santana followed Rachel into her apartment. They had been silent the whole walk to the building from Brooklyn's school, nervous energy surrounding them as they stood in the room alone. She took off her jacket and hung it up before putting her bag on the couch.

Rachel watched her move as she hung up her own coat and scarf. "Do you want something to drink?" she asked softly, her bravado from earlier washed away by nerves.

"Um, coffee would be great if you have it," she said as she pulled out her to-do list and skimmed it over trying to look professional.

"Um," she was lost at how business-like Santana was being, twisting the hem of her shirt nervously between her fingers for a second. "Yeah. I'll just," she sighed softly, slumping ever so slightly as she headed for the kitchen, "I'll go start it."

Santana look a deep breath, closing her eyes as she tried to control how nervous she was.

In the kitchen, Rachel moved slower than usual as she readied the coffee maker and set it to brew. She leaned against the counter, folding her arms over her chest as if she could hug herself. "I'm a little idiot," she whispered sadly. "Of course she just wants to work. She probably was just trying to get me to not make a scene in front of Brooklyn. I'm so stupid..."

After a few minutes, Santana got up and watched Rachel in the kitchen. "I'm really scared of this," she admitted, knowing honesty was the only thing she could give Rachel right now.

"Me too," she admitted, half-heartedly fixing their drinks with her back to Santana. "I really don't want to lose you or Brooklyn in my life, Santana."

"You won't," Santana said, "I couldn't do that... but I'm so scared that I'll fuck this up and she'll lose you and by extension Quinn."

Rachel shook her head, turning to hand Santana her coffee. "Not a chance, Santana. Even if... if whatever this is," she gestured between them, "doesn't work out, I'm not going anywhere. I'll still love that little girl no matter what."

Santana took the cup and nodded. "I can't... bring her into this. If we decide to do this she can't be a part of the equation. It's too confusing for her and she's too young to understand."

She frowned, confused. "I... I can't be around her anymore if we do this?" She looked hurt, "But... Santana, please..."

"I didn't mean that!" Santana corrected herself, "Nothing she sees can change. We're friends and we work together and you're her Rachie..." She licked her lips, "I can't change how she sees us and I can't change anything about how my life is currently. I can't start giving her to a babysitter because I want to see you and miss you. I can't ignore her to kiss you... I can't."

"Santana," Rachel blinked, "I don't want you to change anything. Or well... I want to be with you a little more, um, _intimately_ than we've been. But I don't expect you to change your life - and especially not hers - just for this. We're together almost constantly as it is. I'm sure we could find times to... be together when we need them while she's at school or at her friends'..."

She nodded, obviously tearing herself apart inside at considering opening herself up to get hurt again. "Okay," she whispered, nervous that she would lose herself like she did the last time she started a situation like this.

"We," she took a breath, looking down into her mug to hide how much it hurt to offer, "we don't have to do anything, Santana. Not if you don't want to. We," she swallowed, her jaw working, "we can go back like it was. Pretend nothing happened. I'll just... I'll sleep on the couch or something when you stay over instead of sleeping with you to, um... to keep this from happening again." Her voice wavered slightly but she pushed through.

"I can't go back," she admitted, "I want it so much that I can't go back."

Rachel nodded slowly. "I want it too," she licked her lips. "I just... I don't want you to feel like you have to, Santana. If it's ever too much... just tell me and we'll," she shrugged, "stop."

"I don't want to get hurt." She admitted, "I don't want to hurt you, or my daughter."

"I don't want that either. I can't promise it won't happen, but I can promise I will do everything I can to keep it from washing over onto Brooklyn if it does." She looked at Santana pleadingly, reaching for her hand, "I've never wanted anyone as much as I want you, Santana. I know that sounds trite, but it's true..."

"I want you too." Santana said, "I haven't wanted anyone in 6 years and I want you so bad it hurts."

"It doesn't have to hurt," Rachel offered shyly.

"I don't know how to do this anymore."

"I understand it's rather like riding a bike," she shrugged with a little smirk, "besides... you seemed to be doing okay this morning."

"Sleep sex is different then awake, I'm not as self-conscious." Santana pointed out.

"So," she shrugged, smiling shyly, "you can practice on me. I can guarantee at this point you could likely just kiss me and I'll climax. I'm that aroused from this morning."

Santana beamed, "So, kissing?" she said as she held her own lip between her teeth.

"I would definitely like to work on kissing with you, yes." She smiled teasingly. "Do you really want to work on it in my kitchen though?" She reached out and toyed with the collar of Santana's shirt, "The couch would be more comfortable... or my bed. We could always take a _nap_ ," she teased gently.

She whimpered softly, "Bed sounds good." She looked at Rachel, knowing they couldn't turn back.

She smiled gently, pulling the mug from Santana's hand and setting it on the counter before tugging her towards the bedroom. "Santana, before anything begins, I wish to let you know," she took a breath, smiling up at her shyly with her lower lip caught between her teeth, "I give you permission to touch, taste or otherwise explore my body however you see fit. I want that with you, okay?"

"Okay," she said nervously, "You...can do the same if you want..."

"Don't be nervous," she whispered, gently wrapping her arms around Santana's neck and leaning up to kiss her slowly. "We're just... enjoying each other's company, right?"

Santana just kissed her back softly, her hands automatically encircling Rachel's waist and pulling her closer. Rachel moaned softly into the kiss, stepping back towards her bed and tugging Santana along with her. Her nails scratching lightly against the back of the woman's neck as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss slightly.

The taller woman licked at Rachel's bottom lip as they kissed. Her legs hit the bed and she sat down keeping them connected to each other despite the movement. Rachel moved with her, crawling on top and deepening the kiss with a soft moan.

"And you said you don't know how," she laughed breathlessly, her lips brushing Santana's as she spoke.

"Didn't say I didn't know how." Santana replied, "I said it's been awhile since I was confident doing this." she slid her hands up Rachel's back and back down, then up the back of her shirt.

She shivered under the touch. "I'm fairly certain you said you didn't know how," she teased, nipping at Santana's lower lip, "but I'm willing to practice as often as it takes to make you confident again."

Santana moaned softly before tugging Rachel's shirt up and over her head. "I like your dedication to never wearing a bra," she remarked as she ran her hand down the flat centre of Rachel's chest.

"I think I left it under your bed," she admitted with a shy blush, straddling Santana's hips and shivering as Santana explored her body. "I was a little distracted when I was gathering my things this morning."

"Or you just like to have your nipples distracting me all the time," she said as she pressed a kiss to Rachel's shoulder.

"If this is what distracting you entails, then I want to distract you as often as possible," she admitted breathlessly. "Can... can I lie down? I," she bit her lip, blushing, "I... want to see you above me..."

Santana nodded and laid Rachel down and hovered slightly on her arms over her, "Like this?"

"Yes," she breathed, squirming slightly under her. "You have no idea what you do to me, do you?" She smiled shyly up at her, "How very aroused you make me..."

"Do I?" she asked as she pressed light kisses to the swell of Rachel's breast. "By just kissing you?"

"Sometimes just by looking at me," she admitted with a soft gasp. "But _definitely_ by kissing me." She whimpered as she watched Santana move along her body.

Without saying anything else, Santana let her lips slide over a pert nipple. She whimpered as she gently lathed it with her tongue.

Rachel gasped sharply, arching up into Santana's mouth. One hand fell into Santana's hair, pulling her closer as the other fisted the sheets in her grip. "God, Santana," she panted, her hips bucking for attention despite her efforts to keep still.

Not wanting to rush, Santana just softly sucked and nipped at Rachel's breasts alternating every few seconds to the other. Rachel writhed beneath her, her hand fisting in her hair as she moaned.

"Santana," she whimpered, "sweet Barbara... please... I'll lose my mind. I'll die! I _need_ you!"

"Dramatic," Santana mumbled against her breast before sliding her hands down and pushing Rachel's pants down.

"M-maybe," she gasped out shakily, "but I am _severely_ aroused and am in desperate need of your touch." She spread her legs as soon as the tangle of her pants were clear, not caring that Santana could see how she'd completely soaked through her panties and coated her inner thighs with arousal. "Please, Santana..."

"Shit," Santana exhaled, "That's sexy." she breathed as she ran her shaking index finger up and down Rachel's damp cleft.

Rachel moaned, bucking her hips up and reaching down to push at her panties. "Please, Santana. I'm begging you... take me. I don't care how but I feel as if I'll explode if you do not."

"Okay," Santana said as she pulled off Rachel's last article of clothing. "So beautiful," she whispered as her fingertips teased inside Rachel's core. She stroked up to her clit then down to slide her fingertip inside her entrance.

She gasped as she felt something that wasn't her fingers or a toy slide into her for the first time in a couple years. "Santana," she mewled softly, hips rising to meet the woman's touch as she pried her eyes open to watch her, her jaw falling open as she panted for breath, "please... "

Santana quickly slid two fingers inside Rachel, filling her as far as she could reach. "Is... that okay?" she breathed as she slowly began to move her digits.

"God, yes," she gasped, rocking to meet Santana's slow pace, her eyes falling closed as her head pressed back into the bed, fingers tight in the blankets. She didn't care how she had to look, completely naked under a fully clothed Santana as she writhed on her fingers. All she cared about was that Santana _wanted_ her. "I've," she gasped, "I've dreamed of this. Of you taking me like this," she whimpered as the woman brushed a spot inside her, making her hips jerk. "Of k-kissing you... down there..."

That made Santana moan, her thrusts speeding up and rotating. "Did you do this to yourself in my shower this morning?" she asked as she pressed her thumb to Rachel's clit and rubbed.

She shook her head vaguely as she rocked under her, her body starting to clench around Santana's fingers with each thrust as she approached climax, "N-no... co-couldn't. Not with Brooklyn there... f-felt bad enough about L... LA."

Santana felt the squeeze on her fingers before she leaned down and pulled Rachel into a bruising kiss. She sped up her hand as she found it harder and harder to move from the clamping down of Rachel's pussy around her fingers.

Rachel cried out into Santana's mouth as she came hard, arching up off the bed, her walls pulsing tight and hard around Santana's fingers. She shuddered through the force of her climax, barely able to breath, unaware of anything but _Santana_. Finally she collapsed back to the bed, a shivering, shaky mess, looking up at Santana dazedly.

"Oh," she panted, "oh my God... that... Santana, my God..."

Santana carefully removed herself and wrapped an arm around Rachel's waist. "Yeah." she panted, her arm aching from use. She smiled softly and hid her blush in Rachel's neck.

Rachel reached for her vaguely, barely able to move. "That was amazing," she whispered, smiling dazedly. "I," she blushed, rolling her head to look at Santana, "I want to give you that too..."

"You did this morning." Santana replied, "It's been 6 years... I gotta work my way back in." She said as she kissed Rachel softly, "Just relax and enjoy this."

She laughed softly, "Santana, I don't believe I'm capable of moving at all at this moment, let alone moving sufficiently to provide the amount of effort required to give you an appropriately mind-blowing orgasm. But I want to. I want to make you feel this amazing," she whispered, leaning over to kiss her softly.

"You do." Santana assured her as she laid closer.

"Sleep with me," she whispered cuddling into her. "We'll work on your tendency towards overdressing next time..."

Santana chuckled softly, pulling the blanket over them as they drifted off.


	15. Chapter 15

It'd been nearly two weeks since he'd seen her last, so when Jay caught a glimpse of familiar blonde hair, he smiled and started maneuvering his white and blue squad towards the sidewalk ahead of her.

"The hell you doing, Jay?" his partner, a slim black woman, asked.

"I see someone I recognize." He waved her off, concentrating on getting over before Quinn passed the spot.

"Judging by that grin, you spotted your little girlfriend." She smirked at him, shaking her head. "You're so whipped and it's only been what? Two dates?"

"Shut up, Morgan," he muttered, grinning as he found a spot and rolled the window down as Quinn came by. "Hey there, beautiful. Long time no see."

"Hi!" She smiled brightly, leaning down to talk to him when she saw him and his partner in the car. "How are you doing?"

"Better now that I got to see you." He smiled up at her. "Quinn, I don't believe you've had a chance to meet Morgan. Morgan, this is Quinn Fabray, my -"

"Girlfriend, I _know._ " She rolled her eyes but reached over to shake Quinn's hand. "Nice to finally meet the girl he's been obsessing over, Quinn. So, did you descend from heaven one month ago or two?" she teased.

"Nope," she smirked, "just the upper west side." She shook Morgan's hand. "It's nice to meet you and it's good to know he's been thinking about me."

"Thinking about you, _talking_ about you." She smirked, enjoying the chance to give her blushing partner a hard time. "You made quite an impression on my boy, Quinn. And in just two dates too!" She let out a low whistle.

"Would you let up?" he muttered, glaring at his partner, who just grinned at him.

"She's just playing." Quinn smiled and leaned in and kissed his cheek. "You guys almost done for today? Or just getting started?"

"Somewhere in the middle," he admitted, grinning at the kiss. "We've got another five hours left on this shift, but I'd be open to meeting you for dinner after if you'd like some company."

"Do you wanna swing back by my office and we can grab take out or get a slice of pizza?" she asked as she smiled. "I have to be at my friend's show tonight to talk to a casting agent whose coming to see her."

"I can do that," he grinned. "Maybe I could head to the show with you and see if I can swing a ticket to give you a ride home after?"

"Sure," she said, "that sounds great." She straightened back up from where she'd been leaning in the window of the car. "Just come by whenever you want, " she said and looked over to his partner. "It was nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." She grinned at her. "Maybe I'll see you at the precinct picnic in June if lover boy here doesn't scare you off first."

" _Morgan_ ," he hissed, looking embarrassed.

Quinn laughed. "I'm sure you will see me then if Jay wants me to come." she said shyly. "It sounds like fun."

"Lots of food and cops," Morgan said with a grin before slapping Jay's shoulder. "Come on, lover boy, let's get back on patrol."

He smiled shyly up at Quinn. "See you later, beautiful."

"Be safe," she said softly as she waved watching them drive off.

* * *

Santana sat on the couch in Quinn's office going over the proofs that had been sent over from the shoot Rachel had done recently. She flipped through them as she waited for the Rachel to get there. They had spent the last few days apart because of their schedules and Brooklyn had gotten punished for pushing a little kid at school, who totally deserved it but it meant she couldn't play with Rachel until the weekend; which unfortunately meant Santana couldn't spend time with Rachel outside of work.

"Hi," Rachel murmured shyly, slipping into the office. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, she leaned down and kissed Santana softly before sitting down beside her. "Sorry. I've just really missed being able to do that. What are we looking at?"

Santana leaned over and kissed her again. "Hi," she mumbled with a smile against her lips, "we're looking at photos of you."

"Mmm." She smiled at her, leaning against her and looking over her shoulder at the album in her lap. "I see that. We," she licked her lips and glanced at Santana, her voice softening, "probably shouldn't let Quinn know. About... us, I mean. Whatever this is. Right?"

"We shouldn't," she agreed. "Too many questions and conversations I'm not ready to have," Santana said honestly. "Plus, I kind of like it just being ours for right now." She shrugged as she smiled at Rachel.

Rachel offered a lopsided smile. "Good, I'm," she licked her lips, ducking her head, "I'm not exactly ready to be... open just yet. It's not a matter of not being proud of being with you or anything, I just... publicity is starting to pick up for the show and I don't want _this_ ," she gestured between them, "to be tabloid gossip."

"I don't want photo's and stuff." She said softly, "I don't want to hurt your career and I don't want people to know who I am." She sighed and kissed her lips again. "I like to be secret."

"This is Broadway, Santana, not Hollywood." Rachel shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt my career to be in a lesbian relationship. However, I'm concerned that if what we're doing becomes part of the town gossip, Brooklyn will somehow become involved and I cannot abide the thought of it. No matter how much I might like to be out and open, I will hide forever if it means protecting your little girl."

"Thank you," she said. "I don't want people seeing her. She's a little girl and I don't want my daughter in the media." She sighed and looked down. "I don't want people from Lima who are following your career to see her."

"My dads?" Rachel raised a brow. "I don't know why anyone else would bother honestly..."

"You'd be surprised." She said, "I bet Schue lusts over your career."

"William Schuester should be fired," she huffed. "Looking back the way he handled the club and not to mention his _classes_ was appalling. There is no possibility that he was a certified instructor. He must have submitted fraudulent information to receive his teaching license. _If_ he even has one."

"Trust me. I speak Spanish fluently and he couldn't understand the words I wrote in my essays. I used to write dirty stories and he would always give me a B plus." She chuckled. "Crazy fucker."

"Santana!" Rachel tried to sound scandalized but she couldn't help laughing. "Did you really? Shame on you." She glanced at the clock, sobering. "Quinn should be here soon."

"Yes, I did. They were filthy." She smirked. "I should write you one someday," she added with a grin. "But yeah, she'll be here so get your game face on and keep your hands to yourself."

"Same to you," Rachel smirked, nodding at the tanned hand on her thigh with a raised brow. "Now, show me these pictures," she murmured, leaning against Santana's shoulder to look at the proofs in her lap.

Santana removed her hand, putting the photos down and smiling. "They all look pretty good. They have really good color, but I'm digging on the black and white ones."

"I kind of like this one." She reached over her shoulder to gently slide a black and white pose with a ladder out. "Do you remember what this shoot was supposed to be about? These photos seem all over."

"I think they just wanted to take pictures of you. But it's like the clothing. It was a new designer that wanted to get you in his stuff before you got famous," she explained. "So they did a bunch of random shots."

"Mmm," Rachel nodded, leaning on Santana's shoulder to rifle through the other photos.

Quinn walked in with a raised brow at the seemingly intimate pose. "Well, aren't you two all cozy.?" she smirked, dropping her coat and bag on her chair. "Did the proofs come?"

"Yep, they are a bit confusing with the theme but they look good." Santana said as she held up a photo of Rachel in a 50's style bathing suit. "See?"

Quinn laughed, plucking the photo from Santana's grasp. "Did they hire Doc Brown and his DeLorean to do this shoot?"

"Hey, nerd, no one knows what that means." She smiled and flipped the page.

"Whatever," Quinn scoffed tossing it back down, " _Back to the Future_ is a classic."

"No, _Funny Girl_ is a classic," Rachel pointed out primly, not moving from where her chin was resting on Santana's shoulder as she looked at the photos. "Or _Yentl_."

"Both of you are freaks." She flipped through the shots. "I like this." She picked up the simple on of Rachel looking out a window in an evening gown.

"Very nice." Quinn nodded, looking it over. "Who was the photographer on this shoot, Santana? I think we should use them again."

"I like it, though I take umbrage at your implied disparagement of the great Barbra," Rachel huffed.

"Not disagreeing but just shutting you both up." Santana smiled. "The dude was Micheal Frankenson."

"I'll keep him in mind." Quinn nodded heading over to her desk to start work for the day. "You two spending the day with me today?" she asked, smirking at them as she slid her glasses on. "Or are you finally going to give in to my far superior wisdom and finally go on a date?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, reaching around Santana to turn the page they were on. "Don't be absurd, Quinn. That would exceedingly unprofessional. Besides, I thought we weren't talking about this any longer."

" _You_ may not be, but I am." She gestured at the two of them with her pen. "Look at you two. Just give in."

"Just because you are all fuzzy and in love doesn't mean everyone is," Santana said as she closed the portfolio and leaned back against the couch, removing herself from Rachel. "We are friends and I work for her so back off."

Quinn raised a brow. "Defensive much, Lopez?"

Feeling Santana pull away, Rachel got up and shrugged. "I am not going to spend my free time serving as referee to one of your bizarre friendship spats. We can stop now or I can leave until you're finished so we can get some work done."

"I'm done," Santana said as she pulled out her planner and grabbed her laptop off the table. "Rachel has the casting agent coming today right?"

Ignoring Rachel as she flopped down into a chair across the room from Santana, Quinn nodded. "That's right. Quincy Parks. He'll be arriving while she's on stage for the second act of the show. I'm going to need you to field him for me, Santana. Make her look good without making it too obvious you're talking her up."

"Hey!" Rachel protested, "I can make myself look good!"

"Yes, but you'll be on stage." Santana said pointedly, "I'll talk to him. Will you be with us or not, Q?"

"I'll try to get there before him," Quinn shrugged, "but you know how the business goes by now, Santana. If I don't manage, you've got to take the lead until I can. Don't let her get taken advantage of."

"I'm not a total idiot even though I didn't go to a fancy college like you all," she said as she got up and grabbed a cup of coffee from the machine. "I got it. I'll just talk to him and try to get a feel for what he wants. Do we even know what he's scouting for?"

"If I thought you were an idiot, I wouldn't trust you to take lead," Quinn pointed out mildly. "I believe he's looking for a lead for a project to be filmed here in New York starting next year, but I don't know if it's for TV or the big screen yet."

"Is there a _purpose_ for me being here?" Rachel finally asked pointedly, tired of being ignored. "Or am I just serving as decoration while you two decide my fate?"

"Decoration." Santana smirked as she glanced over at her secret lover. "I'm sorry, little princess, would you like to be a part of the conversation?"

"I doubt I have anything pertinent to add," Rachel snapped, scowling and folding her arms before staring out the office window.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Ignore her. Do you need anything to make her look perfect to Mr. Parks?"

"Not really," Santana said. "I'm good. I know her resume front to back and her qualifications speak for themselves." She took a sip of her coffee.

She looked her over. "You need an update. I don't want him to think he's talking with her assistant. Yes, even if _technically_ you are." She pulled open a drawer and unlocked a box within. "Do you think two grand will be enough? Or," she looked at Santana again, "maybe I should double that. This is New York, not Lima."

"What? Two thousand bucks for what?" Santana asked confused as she looked at Quinn.

"Your wardrobe," she explained, counting out twenties in a neat stack. "I need you to look sharp, Santana. Right now you look good, but not as good as you could. You're not just representing Rachel with Mr. Parks, you're going to be representing me and this firm as well."

"Okay..." Santana said. "I can buy my own stuff," she countered, too proud to be willing to take Quinn's money.

"Yes, I'm well aware you can," Quinn pointed out, "but this is for work and being as I'm requiring you to buy suitable clothing for this event, I am insisting on compensating. I doubt you'll be wearing business suits all the time after all, Santana."

She sighed. "Fine... want me to go and do this now? Do you have anything that you'd prefer?"

"I want you to look like you'll kill someone to get her the best deal," she explained stuffing the money into an envelope. "I want you to look sharp, Santana. I want the business version of the no fear, take no prisoners, anything goes Santana from cheerleading. Think you can give me that?"

"Yep," she said reaching forward and taking the envelope. "It's fine. I'm gonna go and do that now. Rachel, do you want me to walk you to the theatre or do you want to come? Or would you rather stay with Quinn?"

"I think I'll go with." She smirked, pushing up out of her chair. "I want to see what the business version of Santana the Cheerios Captain looks like."

Quinn rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Would you two just have sex already? You're practically dripping on my floor here."

"You're nasty," Santana snapped at Quinn, already mildly bitchy because of the insult to her clothing. She shoved her stuff in her bag and stood up and put on her leather jacket.

"Yep, now go on and get out of my office, you two." Quinn waved at them, turning to her laptop.

Rachel's fingers lightly brushed over Santana's wrist as she passed her. Pulling her jacket on she hurried out after her, finally catching her in the elevator. "Santana, she's not insulting your current look..." She reached out and tugged the collar of her jacket straight idly. "And even if she was, I think you look amazing as is."

"Thanks," she said as she leaned against the wall. "Where should I go to get something?"

"Well, you've got two," she plucked the envelope from Santana's bag and looked through it, her eyes going wide, "make that _five_ thousand dollars to spend on clothes. So where have you really wanted to go for clothes but haven't been able to yet?" she smiled at her, tapping the envelope on Santana's nose. "And isn't the best shopping done on someone else's dime?"

"This is true." She smiled, calming down. "Can we go to Fifth Avenue?" she asked excitedly. "I really want something like super hot."

"I don't see why not," Rachel reached out and squeezed her hand with a grin. "I rather like the idea of you looking incredibly attractive when representing me," she teased, as elevator dinged. "Especially if I'm the only one who gets to see how attractive you _really_ are," she added in a whisper as the doors slid open.

Santana smirked and walked out of the building, hailing a cab to take them towards the stores.

* * *

They had gone to three stores, the kind that Santana blanched just looking at the price of a pair of socks. She tried a few things on, but hadn't found anything she liked yet. "None of this shits me."

"No," Rachel agreed easily, "but it was rather fun assisting with the trying things on." She smirked at Santana. "You know, she just said look incredible. It doesn't _have_ to be expensive to be incredible." She shrugged, speaking almost absentmindedly. "You certainly seem to prove that on a regular basis after all..."

"Charmer." Santana smirked. "I'm gonna do like a pencil skirt and jacket thing but I want it to not be boring," she said as she looked through the racks.

"What's boring about that?" Rachel asked mildly, thumbing idly through the rack before her thumb brushed over a strange feeling fabric, "What's this... oh gross. _Leather_. Why would someone want a _leather_ skirt?"

Santana's eyes popped open as she looked over. "That's hot," she said as she ran her fingers over it. "I like that."

"Santana, it's _leather_ ," she complained. "That was once a baby animal's _skin_!"

"My jacket's leather." she raised her eyebrow.

"I strive to ignore that on every possible occasion," she pointed out dryly. "You would dress entirely in murdered baby animals if you could, wouldn't you."

"You still think I'm sexy," Santana said confidently, as she skimmed through silk tops.

"This... is true," she admitted hesitantly. "But if you dress in all leather, you're stripping before you get in my bed again. I don't want to touch it. Oh sweet Barbra, is that a leather _jacket_?"

"Quinn would be mad if I came in a leather jacket." She sighed. "She wants me to look like her."

"No," Rachel murmured slowly. "She wants you to look like Santana the Killer. Quinn's never really had that outward simmering violence that you could pull off so easily. _Serial_ killer now... she could definitely do that, but the feeling of potential death and destruction bubbling just under the surface really was only yours."

"Yeah, I know." Santana sighed as she looked few a selection. "Pants, skirt or dress do you think?"

"I like you in a skirt," Rachel suggested. "Though I might add that you are all but completely irresistible in a dress." She leaned on the rack, nibbling on her lip with a tiny smile. "It might be hard to keep my hands off you in a dress. Especially now that I know I wouldn't be knocked out for doing so."

She chuckled, shaking her head at Rachel's flirting. "Good to know." She smiled and saw a black dress out of the corner of her eye. "Mmm. I'm going with dress I think." She grabbed it off the rack and smiled. "I'm gonna try this on."

"I do believe you're deliberately taunting me, Ms Lopez." Rachel smirked, watching her. "Do you think you'll need any assistance?"

"I think maybe you should just wait and be surprised." She smiled as she walked to the change room. "If you'd like you can pick me out some kind of bra you'd prefer to see on me."

"Tempting," Rachel mused, trying to smirk but it came out as a shy smile. "I think I might end up spending a bit too much time thinking about it _not_ on you though."

"I would be able to arrange that," she said as she sauntered inside. Santana tried on the dress as she thought about maybe spending some _personal_ time with Rachel later in the day.

Lip caught firmly between her teeth as she smiled shyly, trying to hide a blush, Rachel waited outside for Santana to come out. "I think," she swallowed before calling softly into the stall Santana was in, "perhaps I'd like to see you in things you'd pick before I tried to select something for you. You've a better idea of how I appear than I you at this point after all."

Santana popped her head out. "I can go with what I have on, until you get more understanding of what my boobs look good in."

She smiled shyly at Santana, aware she was probably blushing. "I look forward to studying the subject in depth when I am allowed occasion to do so."

"Me too." Santana smiled as she headed back into the stall and undressed. "I love this dress. I just need a blazer and some shoes and I'm good," she said as she undressed and put on her regular outfit before exiting the stall.

"You're really not going to show me are you?" Rachel smiled up at her teasingly. "What about that black silk blazer on the end cap we walked past on the way back here?"

"Nope, wanna keep you surprised." She smiled as she folded it over her arm and picked up a blazer and and wandered over to the shoes. She picked out a pair of simple black four inch platform heels before walking back over to Rachel. "I think I'm good," Santana said as she held up the items.

"I _know_ you're good," Rachel pointed out mildly. "Shall we pay then? I should be getting back to the theater and perhaps you could do me the favor of helping me into my costume?"

"Of course, thanks for coming with me," she said as she brought the stuff to the counter and put them down on the counter. "Hey, I'd like to buy these." The clerk looked at her skeptically as she rang up the items. The price rolled closer to her limit as she thought it would and she put down the cash as the woman wrapped up the items. Santana glared at the unfriendly person and moved closer to Rachel. "People are bitchy here."

"That's natural, Santana," she smiled mildly at the cashier. "They don't make enough to afford anything in here even with their discount and they're simply jealous of those who can. They also don't know enough to recognize talent when they see it. Come on now, I've got to get back to the theater to get my costume on before curtain. Don't forget that Mr Parks is coming and we don't want any mistakes," she added, casually name dropping as another dig at the less than pleasant attitude of the clerk.

"You'll be perfect like always," Santana said as she helped Rachel into the taxi as they headed over to the theatre.

"Why thank you, Santana." She smiled at her friend, completely ignoring the gaping clerk who'd followed them to the door in favor of tugging the other woman in to sit beside her.


	16. Chapter 16

After the meeting with Quincy Parks, Santana was on cloud nine. She had charmed him, flirted slightly, and made him understand the amazing qualities that Rachel could bring to his movie. He left with a smile and told her he'd be in touch before Santana headed back into the theatre. She quickly headed back into the theatre to meet up with Rachel in her dressing room. She knocked lightly as she stuck her head inside the room, "Rach?"

"In here, Santana," she called back, wiping her face with a towel to get the cold cream off. "How'd it go?"

"Very well, I think he was impressed," she said as she slid into the dressing room and locked the door. She leaned back against the wood as she watched Rachel wash her face and change.

"That's good," Rachel smiled, carefully wiping the cream away from her eyes before standing and turning towards Santana. "You sound pleased." She opened her eyes, jaw dropping slightly as she took in the vision that was Santana. "You... you look _amazing_ , Santana. No wonder he was impressed."

Santana blushed slightly. "Thank you, but he was impressed by you and your voice."

"Perhaps," she murmured, coming over to rest her hands on Santana's hips, "but _I_ am impressed by _you_. You are so," she leaned up and kissed her softly, her hands sliding over the smooth fabric of her dress, "so beautiful..."

"Thank you," she said softly. "It felt good to be the HBIC for a little while again," she admitted as she slid her arms around Rachel's neck.

"You look like you enjoyed it," she smiled up at her, leaning in to press her robed body against Santana's. "Do you," she swallowed, licking her lips, "do you think we could... be together tonight? If you need to get Brooklyn, I understand..."

"I have to get her... but it's Friday night we can spend the night together if you want to stay over." She said softly.

"I'd like that," she admitted quietly, "but... I wish we had some time," she ran her tongue along her bottom lip, " _alone_ first." She ran a finger along the collar of Santana's dress. "I've missed Brooklyn though. It'll be good to spend time with her."

"I do too," Santana breathed, her hands sliding down to dip under the robe and against Rachel's bare waist. "She's not being punished any more so she's going to a birthday party for one of her school friends who lives near you so we can be alone tomorrow for a few hours."

"Really?" she smiled, shivering at the feeling of Santana's cool hands on her bare skin. "Don't start something you don't intend to finish," she chided, sliding her hands down to cover Santana's wrists. "Acting is quite the aphrodisiac for me after all and I am not at all above engaging in inappropriate behavior in the relative privacy of my dressing room."

Santana quickly slid her hand down to cup Rachel's bare core. "Fuck," she moaned softly. "You're not kidding."

"W-why would I kid about that?" she moaned softly, her eyes falling closed as her fingers tightened around Santana's wrist. "Please, Santana... unless you intend to finish..."

"How fast can you come?" She husked in Rachel's ear as her thumb circled Rachel's clit and her fingers slid inside her.

She gulped in a shuddering breath as she reached up to cling to Santana. "Incredibly fast at this rate, but you're going to get a cramp in your arm f-from this angle."

With dark eyes Santana pushed Rachel back until her hips roughly hit the vanity dressing table. Santana pushed her ass up onto the flat part and spread her legs. Her fingers started moving, she smirked when she realized Rachel could watch what she was doing from the full length mirror to the right of them.

Rachel leaned back against the mirror behind her, the tie holding her robe closed loosening enough to allow it to fall open around her as she moved. She spread her legs wide, watching how Santana's fingers slid slickly in and out of her soaked core with glassy eyes. The wet sound of the woman finger fucking her filled the room, her palm slapping against her clit with each thrust and sending a jolt through her.

"God," she whispered, reaching up to pinch and twist her nipples, "more, baby... stretch me..."

Santana moaned, leaning forward to catch Rachel's lips in a rough kiss as she slid a third finger inside. She twisted and curled her digits, as she thrust hard and fast.

Rachel moaned low as her body responded to the additional stretching by beginning to clench around the fingers, her walls clamping down hard as she rapidly stumbled towards orgasm. "So close," she gasped, rocking on the table and making it creak in complaint with each thrust. Her legs spread wider as if Santana would be able to go deeper if she opened herself more. "So c- _close_!"

A few more hard thrusts and a rhythmic series of taps on Rachel's clit and Santana felt the woman's walls squeeze her fingers. Rachel fell over the edge hard, clenching Santana's fingers in her core and curling with the force of the orgasm. She mewled her release, a faint, breathless sound. Her jaw slack and eyes clenched shut as she struggled to breath through the intense feelings thundering through her.

After a couple moments, she relaxed, one of her arms going around Santana and hugging her while the other reached down to hold her from pulling out. "Just," she panted, "just stay for a moment like this... please?"

"Okay," Santana said, resting her head against Rachel's so she wouldn't get her dress dirty. "I like doing that."

"Doing what?" she smiled vaguely, enjoying the feeling of her walls faintly rippling along Santana's fingers. "Making me lose my mind with your fingers?"

"Yes," she said. "I like it a lot."

She laughed breathlessly. "I appreciate your honesty and hope to give you many more opportunities in the future." Letting go of Santana's wrist, she gasped as she pulled out, whimpering softly at the loss. "I'd better get dressed or Quinn's going to know we're doing this," she murmured, looking up at Santana shyly as she tried to calm the fluttering sensation in her stomach. "I... I really want to be with you the way you have with me, Santana. I want to give you this."

Santana nodded as she moved to sit on the couch and slowly suck the essence off her fingers. "We will... It's just kinda scary for me and we haven't really had the time to explore that side of our thing yet."

"We will," Rachel smiled at her, breathing carefully until she felt strong enough to stand again and move to start getting dressed. "It's a good thing I have a standing habit of masturbation immediately following a performance or Quinn might question why I smell so much like sex. There's wet wipes in the side table if you wish to cleanse yourself more thoroughly."

Once Santana finished licking her fingers she washed them on the wet wipes and sat back with a magazine. "You jerk off after a show? Wankey."

"I _did_ mention that acting was an incredible aphrodisiac for me, did I not?" Rachel pointed out, dropping her robe and beginning to get dressed. "If you would care to assist in the future, you know where I am."

"Very true." She smirked, making a mental note to meet her backstage more often. "So are we going to your place or mine with mini-me tonight?"

"Mine may be easier if she's commuting to a friend's house tomorrow," Rachel mused, pulling on her skirt and tights before tucking in her blouse. "And may I just point out that she _needs_ to sleep between us as a necessary buffer? My tendency to cuddle you in my sleep and um... other things is entirely overactive these days."

Santana chuckled. "I'll remember to wear pants to bed." She blushed and gathered her stuff up. "Head out or do you wanna see Q first?"

"Is she here?" Rachel asked curiously as she stuffed her things into her bag. "I haven't seen her or heard from her yet."

"She was watching the show with her boyfriend." She smirked. "I could see them from the wing."

"Oh _was_ she now?" Rachel smirked, settling the bag on her shoulder. "Who is the mystery man anyway? I've hardly gotten anything out of her but he's sweet and charming."

"He's like a cop or something and sounds straight out of like her head fantasy. I was starting to believe she made him up." Santana smiled as she pressed a kiss to Rachel's lips. "Let's bounce?"

"I'm glad she finally found someone." She smiled lopsidedly at the kiss. "I was beginning to become worried that I'd ruined her for everyone else. Come, let's go and pick up the little one and perhaps some pizza for dinner? I feel like being unhealthy tonight."

"Yes, Rachel. I'm sure you ruined Quinn Fabray for ever other person ever." She rolled her eyes and pulled on her coat. "Let me go pop my head in and tell her that we're off."

Rachel laughed. "I might enjoy the opportunity to ruin _you_ for every other person ever," she teased. "Go on and brag about how amazing you are and then let's go. We have a child and dinner to attend to after all."

"This is true." Santana rolled her eyes at the bad attempt at flirting. "Alright, be back." She quickly headed out of the dressing room and over to the small office off the back of the theatre that she used sometimes. She knocked softly. "Q? You decent?" she joked as she waited for the other woman.

"Of course I am," Quinn looked up as Santana poked her head in, looking puzzled. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're in a room with your boy, god knows what your doing." Santana smiled as she saw Jay sitting in a suit in one of the chairs.

"Don't be perverse, Santana," Quinn shook her head as Jay blushed and waved. "He's simply waiting for me to finish some paperwork since he was kind enough to agree to take me home."

"Hello again, Ms Lopez," Jay smiled. "Where's your little friend?"

Santana smiled and walked over and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you without anyone's head getting broken," Santana said as she leaned against the desk Quinn worked on. "She's finishing getting ready to head home."

"Wearing pants this time?" he teased gently. "You seem in a better mood than the last time we met. Did something go well?"

"Yes, Santana, how _did_ the meeting with Mr. Parks go?" Quinn glanced up at her expectantly. She already knew how it went from having watched from nearby, but she wanted to see how Santana would explain it.

"It went very well," she smiled proudly, "and I think there is a good chance he will give us a call and ask her to read for the film." She said, "It's a feature - romantic comedy - and they're casting the secondary role of the best friend."

Quinn huffed out a short laugh. "Rachel would be perfect for that. Especially if the best friend is supposed to subtly steal the male lead out from under the female lead," she joked. "So, do you think you could handle lead on this project? More as her manager that is. Not assistant."

"You're her manager," Santana said as she cocked her head to the side. "Why would I handle that?"

"Because I'm offering." She looked up from the paper she was writing on with a raised brow. "I'm giving you a chance to be more than Rachel Berry's assistant, Santana. Do you want it or not?"

"Yes," Santana said as she looked proud of herself for a moment. "Want to have a meeting on Monday about it? Talk over the logistics and shit?"

"Definitely." She nodded, shuffling her papers and sliding them into her bag. "You're officially representing me on this right now, Santana, so I'll have to sign off on official documents. But if you pull it off, I'll get things set in motion for you to get the training to be licensed as a talent agent in New York and possibly California so you can book things on your own. You ready for this?"

"Yeah." She said, "I am, but I don't want you doing this just because. I'm not exactly the same level as anyone. I don't have a college degree..."

"I'm aware," she said with another nod, shrugging her coat on before standing up. "We can work on that as well if you'd like. Rachel's fully capable of more or less managing herself so long as she has help when she needs it. With Brooklyn now occupied with school, you do have time available to attend classes if you want. I'm sure Rach would accommodate your going back to school after all."

"I don't know if that's what I want to do right now. I'll think about it." She said, "Can we talk more on Monday? I want to think this weekend..." She looked down not sure if she could handle being a manager or if she was even qualified. "It was really nice to see you, Jay, and have a good night with Quinn."

"Think it over. Talk to Rachel or whomever you'd like. Take as long as you need, Santana," Quinn smiled at her coming over to give her a hug. "Rachel, Brooklyn and I are the only people you need to worry about impressing right now and we already happen to think you're pretty awesome. I'm offering because I think you can do it, that's all." She kissed her cheek. "Have a good night with Rach and the kid, okay?"

"It was nice seeing you too, Santana," he offered her his hand as he stood. "But I'm just giving Quinn a ride home. We've already had quite a lovely night, wouldn't you say, Quinn?"

She smiled up at him, wrapping an arm around his waist. "Definitely. I'll see you on Monday, okay Santana?"

"Talk to you later." She smiled and shook Ajay's hand before leaving and heading out back to Rachel. She slid up next to her and whispered in her ear, "Ready to bounce? I want to see my daughter. I hate being this late to pick her up."

"Yes." Rachel smiled at her as they headed out to catch a taxi. "I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of calling the sitter to let her know we're on our way so that Brooklyn will be ready when we arrive."

"That's awesome, thank you," Santana said as she slid into the cab and rested her hand on Rachel's thigh. "You did really amazing tonight at the show. You really impressed the agent."

Rachel smiled shyly at her, covering her hand with her own. "I'm certain you were invaluable in proving that though, Santana."

Santana threaded their fingers together as she saw her baby standing with the sitter. "Not really." She pushed open the door and let Brooklyn climb in on her lap. "Hi, darling baby-child." She smiled, breathing in her daughter's sweet scent as she hugged her. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Mommy," she replied, kissing her mom's cheek with a smile. "It's Friday. Are we staying with Rachie? Hi, Rachie," she added with a little wave.

"Hi, sweetheart," Rachel waved back, leaning against the door and watching the tiny family interact with a fond smile.

"Yes, you have that birthday party tomorrow and she lives near Rachel," Santana said hugging her baby close. "I missed you so much today! Mommy had to go shopping with Auntie Quinn's money and get a dress and I needed my little assistant to be there and I didn't have time to come and get you!"

"Oh no!" Brooklyn looked up at Santana with big eyes. "Is it okay? Were you scared?"

"Rachel kindly helped me out, but I would have like you to be there. I like doing that stuff with you," Santana said as she kissed the girl's head. "You're my best friend."

"You're my best friend too, Mommy," she smiled, hugging her mom again. "I'm glad Rachie could help you." She nodded seriously. "Thank you for helping my Mommy, Rachie."

Rachel gave the pair of them an amused little smile. "You're welcome, Brooklyn." For a brief moment there was a faint tinge of sadness in her eyes but it disappeared as she brightened her smile. "Would you like pizza for dinner tonight?"

She thought about it then nodded with a happy grin. "I like pizza!"

"That's because you only ever have pizza when we're with _Rachie_ " Santana reminded her. "Mommy would make you dinner, but is too tired to fight my little pizza monsters." She smiled and leaned back her arm wrapped around Brooklyn and the other still tangled with Rachel.

"Santana, if I'm allowing her to have a certain food too often," Rachel chided softly, "just say something. It's not like I'm inflexible on the sort of food we eat."

"We have it like once a month." Santana smiled. "She likes it and it's okay. You're the only person other than us who ever remembers to ask if it's nut free," she added as she kissed her daughter's head. "You keep her healthy and I like that."

"Dietary restrictions are something I can understand," she said, shrugging. "Being both Vegan _and_ Jewish will do that after all. So asking and insisting upon careful handling of food is simply second nature to me. But if you don't mind eating vegan more often, I could endeavor to cook at least one night that we all share a residence in the course of a month."

"We have dinner at my house all the time." She said, "I don't mind her having a treat now and then... but if you'd like to cook we'd like to help."

"Yeah!" Brooklyn smiled. "Mommy lets me help at home!"

"We'd have to be careful," Rachel pointed out with a gentle smile as she reached over to ruffle Brooklyn's hair. "I have special rules I have to follow when I cook, but I think I'd like to make the two of you something now and then. Do you think you'd like to try Vegan food like I eat some time, Brooklyn?"

"No yucky stuff like last time?" she asked uncertainly. "I didn't like that," she said as she looked at Rachel. "But I like vegetables and fruits."

"So do I." She smiled at her. "We can make stir-fried vegetables with noodles though. You can help make the noodles. How does that sound?"

"Okay." Brooklyn smiled. "That sounds yummy," she said as she looked outside. "Look! We home!" she cheered as she wiggled in her mom's lap as she paid the driver.

"We're at Rachel's, sweetness," Santana reminded her.

"But, Mommy, you said when we moved that home was where ever my teddy bear and Mommy are," Brooklyn reminded her. "You are here and my teddy is in my bag!"

Rachel's lips twitched up in a little smile. "I do believe she has a point, Santana." She smiled at the other woman. "You're certainly welcome to consider my home yours as well for as long as our friendship lasts. Which I certainly hope is a very long time," she added, paying the cabbie and getting out.

"Thank you." Santana smiled as she got out and picked up her daughter. "Our friendship will last," she remarked as she walked up the stairs and waited for Rachel. "Well come on! The Lopez ladies don't like to be kept waiting!"

She laughed, shaking her head as she headed up the stairs to unlock the door into the building. "The Lopez ladies are demanding."

"We's know what we's want." Brooklyn smiled as she batted her eyelashes at Rachel.

"Sweet Barbra, you are entirely like your mother," Rachel laughed, escorting them up to her apartment. "So... pizza tonight or not?"

"Yay!" Brooklyn exclaimed as she kissed her mom's cheek. "I'm like you."

"Is that a good thing or bad?" She smiled as she put Brooklyn down. "Alright, baby, go changed into those pajamas Rachel keeps here for you okay? And we can order pizza."

"Definitely a good thing," Rachel murmured, hanging up their jackets as the little girl scurried off to the bedroom to change. "If I've... overstepped any telling her this could be her home too, then I apologize, Santana." She bit her lip, smiling nervously. "I do want you to consider yourselves at home here though..."

"You didn't," Santana said. "I like her to be comfortable with being here."

"Good." She nodded. "I just... I really don't want to break our rules, Santana. I want this... us... whatever it is... I want it to continue. It's just an adjustment right now."

"Brooklyn loves you and that has nothing to do with us," Santana said as she grabbed her own bag of clothing. "You're the only person whose not me that's loved her. She can have this."

"Of course it has nothing to do with us," she murmured softly, crossing the room as Santana called for the pizzas. She sat down just in time to catch Brooklyn as she came flying out of the bedroom to jump in her lap.

"Hi, Rachie!" She smiled up at her, crawling more securely into her lap and nestling in against her with a happy sigh. "I love you. _Almost_ as much as I love Mommy."

"Do you?" Rachel smiled down at her. "Well, I love you too. What do you think of that?"

"I like it." She smiled. "I like coming to see you, you are the bestest." She looked up at Rachel before she spoke again, "I got sad last week because I missed you. I gots in trouble and couldn't come play with you." She pouted as she plucked at the fuzz on her shirt. Santana slipped into the bedroom and changed into yoga pants and a white t-shirt. "Mommy said that you wouldn't like me being mean to people... Even if they deserved it."

"Mmm, your mommy's right," She nodded, kissing the top of Brooklyn's head. "It's never a good thing to be mean to people, Brooklyn. You're a smart little girl too, you don't have any reason to be mean and hurt people when you can talk to them. What was so bad that you felt you had to be mean to someone?"

She was quiet for a moment. "He said..." She looked down at her little hands that had dark blue nail polish on her tiny finger tips. "He said that I didn't have a daddy because he didn't like my mom. That's why daddies leave. I don't want a daddy, I have my Mommy!"

Rachel nodded. "Of course you do, sweetheart. People are just mean sometimes. And telling someone they don't have a daddy because their daddy didn't like their mommy is terribly mean." She looked down at the little girl in her lap, brushing her fingers lightly over her soft dark hair. "Has your mommy ever told you that I grew up with just daddies? I didn't have a mommy, but I had my daddies."

"Two?" She gasped. "Wow... that's a lot of daddies!" she said as her hands played with Rachel's necklace. "I don't want anyone but Mommy though... she's the best. She knows everything I like and she gives me hugs that make me so happy."

"You do have the best mommy." She grinned down at her. "But I needed two daddies to keep up with me. I was a _very_ precocious child after all. I loved my daddies the most, but children can be cruel and I was made fun of because I didn't have a mommy and had two daddies instead."

"Oh." She said. "I don't know that word. Pre... preco..." she said softly, getting frustrated but her inability to pronounce it, "I don't know what it means."

"Precocious?" Rachel thought for a moment for how best to explain it. "It means that I was a very smart little girl, like you, and I learned faster than my classmates. It made them jealous and they were mean because of it."

Brooklyn nodded. "Okay." She sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't care I don't have a daddy," She said as she looked back to Rachel. "Mommy got sad when I was in trouble and when I tolds her what happened."

"Your mommy doesn't like you being mean either, Brooklyn," Rachel pointed out. "And maybe she's sad because she thinks that little boy was mean to you because she doesn't have a daddy to give you. Maybe she thinks it's her fault you had to be mean."

"I didn't mean too..." She said, "I know she doesn't want me to get angry and she was mad at me."

"I know you didn't and she does too," she reassured her, giving her a hug. "She wasn't mad at _you_ so much as the situation. She's your mom and she wants the best for you, so it makes her sad when you have to be mean. It makes me sad too. But it just makes us want to help you more. Okay?"

"I love you, Rachie," Brooklyn said as she cuddled into her.

Santana came around the corner and smiled at them. "Alright, tinys," she said as she grabbed her wallet and opened the door for the pizza guy. She grabbed the boxes and put them on the table as she chatted with him, smiling and once laughing at something he said before taking a folded piece of paper from him.

Rachel glanced at her flirting then looked away, trying to ignore the feeling of jealousy simmering in the pit of her stomach. She didn't like seeing Santana flirting with other people, but she knew the only claim she really had on the other woman was merely physical at best. And only friendship at worst.

"Tell me about school," she murmured to Brooklyn, smiling and trying to distract herself. "How was it today?"

"Boring," Brooklyn said as she looked over to Santana. "I didn't get to play with the piano or the tambourine." She pouted. "But I got to practice reading after we took naps."

Santana paid the kid and came back to the living room. She put the pizza down before going and getting two diet sodas and a juice box. "Dinner time," she said as she put down a roll of paper towels.

"I need to fix my pizza," Rachel reminded Santana, urging Brooklyn to scoot over onto the sofa as she got up to take her box. Her tone was slightly more terse than usual, but she tried to attribute it to the long day rather than the unhappy jealousy in her stomach.

Santana got up and followed Rachel after making sure Brooklyn was situated. "You okay?" she asked as she got out plates for them all, "The pizza kid gave us coupons for next time we order your vegan pizza... He said that they have a vegan special that's not on the menu that he said we should try." She handed Rachel the flyer. "That's what we were talking about."

"I'm sure," she muttered, throwing Daiya onto her small pizza and shoving it in the toaster oven to melt.

"Why are you acting like I just insulted you?" she asked softly.

"I don't know. Why don't you think about it for a bit and maybe you'll come up with an answer?" Rachel snapped, grabbing her pizza out of the oven with a mitt and dropping it on the plate. "Or wait, maybe the _delivery boy_ could tell you when you're done _flirting_ with him _in front of me and your daughter_. But whatever... do what you need or want to do, I know we're just," she swallowed, unhappy with herself from blowing up, " _physical_."

"No," Santana growled, "You do _not_ get to lord Brooklyn over my head just because you know her now." She looked Rachel in the eye. "You don't get to _think_ that I was doing anything other than talking to him," she hissed, upset by that accusation. "I was talking to the kid, he was telling me that I should just order the freaking vegan pizza they make!"

"You're right," she muttered unhappily. "I don't get to think anything about anything you do. We don't have a relationship beyond friendship and I have no right to be upset about anything. I know that. I'm sorry I got," her jaw worked, " _jealous_ of the stupid delivery boy. You don't have to rub the fact that I'm just a _fuck buddy_ to you in my face, okay?" She trembled slightly, keeping her voice soft enough to not carry to little ears. "Talk to whomever you please, Santana. My opinion doesn't matter."

"Stop it," Santana snapped. "I wasn't flirting with him. I was talking to him and paying him for food. I would never flirt in front of my child so please just calm down," she said, "and you're not a fuck buddy."

"I am calm and I told you it doesn't matter." Rachel's lips tightened as she refused to meet Santana's eyes. "But I know what I am, Santana. We have a physical connection. That's it. Outside of that we're just friends. I'm not deluding myself."

""Mommy!" Brooklyn called from the other room. "I'm hungry!" she complained before Santana could comment. She rubbed her eyes and picked up the plates before looking at Rachel.

"Dinner time," she said as she walked into the living room and sat down with her daughter. "Sorry, baby, it's good to let it cool down before you eat it," she explained as she cut up a slice for her daughter.

Rachel stared at the plate on the counter and rubbed at her face, suddenly not feeling nearly as hungry as she had a little while ago. She knew that Brooklyn would ask about her though, so she took a deep breath and forced her emotions down to the place where she hid them when she was on stage. Picking the plate up, she headed into living room and sat down next to Brooklyn on the other end of the couch from Santana with a soft smile.

"Is it good?" she asked, picking at her pizza but not really eating.

Santana sighed and wiped her daughter's mouth. "Yes!" Brooklyn said after she swallowed. "I wish you ate cheese so I could give you some!"

"I eat special cheese because real cheese makes me feel bad," Rachel smiled apologetically. "But it isn't so bad. Would you like to try a bite?" She offered a little piece on a fork. "Don't worry, Santana, Daiya doesn't have any nuts in it."

"Can I, mom?" Brooklyn asked as she opened her mouth and leaned over. Santana nodded with a smile as she nodded and took a bite of her own food. The girl chewed the bite she took off the fork. "Mommy, it tastes good." She smiled as she wiggled between bites. "Not as yummy as mine."

"Mmm, but it won't make me sick," Rachel pointed out, "so I like it. I even have special ice cream. I can't eat anything that comes from animals without getting sick." She pouted slightly, then appeared to perk up. "But I get to have lots and lots of vegetables and fruits which are delicious!"

"They yummy." She smiled as she munched on her crust. "I like cheese though, it's sad you can't have cheese." Brooklyn reached for some of her mom's pizza.

"I have my cheese though. I'm happy with it." She smiled at Brooklyn. "I'm like you. Some things make me sick so I can't eat them. It's why I'm always extra careful to make sure your food is good for you."

"Oh." She smiled, nodding. "I understand," she said as she ate. "Rachie, you gotta eat. You gotta get big and strong since you're little like me!"

"I'm eating! See?" she popped a piece in her mouth and chewed and swallowed. "But I'm already as big and strong as I'm going to get, I'm afraid." She leaned over to whisper in Brooklyn's ear, "Your mommy used to say I was pocket-sized." She grinned and nodded at the little girl's wide eyes, letting her know it didn't bother her.

"Think I'm gonna be pocket-sized?" she asked. "I'm the smallest in my class."

"You're perfect," Santana said as she ate a bite. "I love you and how tiny you are. Both of you," she whispered softly as she kissed her daughter's head.

"Don't worry, Brooklyn," Rachel smiled at her, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder, "I'm certain that whatever size you end up being will be absolutely and perfectly you. You're just special like that."

Brooklyn smiled and kept chatting about random things. Santana ate her slice and cut up a second for Brooklyn as she talked. She watched Rachel interact with her daughter with a smile, calming down from the stress of their earlier spat. After a quick bath, Santana scooped her up and laid her on the bed, she laid next to her as Rachel sat with them.

"Alright, Mariposa," Santana said, "What story do you want to hear and what song?"

"Can you tell me how you and Rachie met, Mommy?" Brooklyn asked, looking up at her pleadingly. "Rachie says you've known each other for a long long time."

"Well," Santana said as she ran her fingers through Brooklyn's hair, "We met our first day of second grade."

"You remember that?" Rachel asked with a soft smile. "I thought you'd forgotten. She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever laid eyes on. I think she was the prettiest girl in the class before Quinn moved in in fifth grade."

"Mommy is prettier than Auntie Quinn," Brooklyn countered.

"That's not nice," Santana scolded her. "Auntie Quinn is beautiful." She smiled as she kissed her daughter's hand. "Rachel was very nice to me even though I was scared about being at school. I wasn't like you, Brooke, I was really scared to go to school."

Rachel glanced up at Santana with a shy smile. "Your mommy was very smart though. She just didn't always know the right words in English, but my daddies raised me to try and be nice and helpful even if I didn't always know what was being said." Her voice softened, "I liked having her as my best friend."

"And I liked having her as mine," Santana said softly, looking at her for a moment before turning her attention back to her daughter. "So, Rachie used to help me and make sure I wasn't scared and I found my bus to go home. She was the best friend ever."

"If Rachie's your best friend, Mommy, how come I didn't meet her sooner?" Brooklyn looked up between the two women confusedly.

"We," Rachel took a breath and let it out slowly, "we had a fight and stopped talking not long after Quinn moved to town. Your mommy and Quinn became friends with another girl named Brittany while we were mad at each other and," she shrugged, looking at Santana with a sad little smile, "we just didn't play together any more. They played games I was too small to play and I liked to dance and sing instead."

"Mommy isn't much bigger than you," Brooklyn pointed out. "You should have played with Rachie... It wasn't nice to forget her."

"I never forgot her, baby," Santana said. "Just some times we lose things we care about... but we can always find them again if we try."

"Absolutely. And I wasn't very nice to refuse to play either," Rachel pointed out. "But we finally stopped fighting and became friends again. And here we are!"

"Yay!" Brooklyn clapped. "I love that you are friends! I like when you both put me to bed."

"I like that too, Brooklyn," Rachel murmured, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Now what song would you like before bed?"

"Can you and mommy sing something?" she asked with a yawn as she cuddled into her teddy bear.

"Sure we can," she smiled lopsidedly at Santana. "Maybe something from when we were in Glee together? We had some amazing duets, Santana..."

"Maybe we could sing her that one from West Side Story?" She asked, "Not the one we sang, but _One hand, One heart_? It's slower and I remember the words."

She thought about it for a moment then nodded slowly. "Alright. Do you want Tony's part or Maria's?"

"Tony," Santana said. "I don't sing other than with Brooke," she warned as she pulled the blankets up over her daughter and tucked her in. "You ready for bedtimes?" She pressed kisses to her daughter's eyelids when she closed them.

"Mmhmm," Brooklyn murmured sleepily. "Still gonna sing, right, Mommy?"

"We're still going to sing," Rachel reassured her softly. "Well, Santana? Tony leads."

Santana took a slight breath and closed her eyes. " _Make of our hands, one hand. Make of our hearts, one heart..._." She sang the rest of her lines softly as she let her eyes fall open so she could watch Brooklyn drifting to sleep.

Rachel sang softly, her voice blending with Santana's easily the same as it always had. When the song came to an end and Brooklyn was breathing deeply in sleep, she smiled shyly at Santana. "I always loved singing with you."

"You too," Santana whispered as she pushed her baby's hair back off her face as she slept. She kissed her head softly, "I love her more every day... I didn't think that was possible."

"She's your baby girl," she murmured softly, watching her, "of course it's possible." She ducked her head with a soft sigh, "I'm sorry... about earlier, Santana. I was out of line."

"Not here," Santana whispered. "Let's go." She said as she kissed the child one more time and carefully got off the bed. She headed into the living room and closed the pizza boxes and put them into the kitchen before grabbing two beers and coming back into the living room. "You weren't out of line. I was being insecure and the kid was laying it on pretty hard when he was telling me about the special pizza..." She sighed. "But I wasn't flirting."

Rachel accepted a beer with a soft sigh, sitting down on the couch. "I know... I shouldn't have gotten jealous. I just couldn't help it. It looked like you were flirting and... I don't know..." She trailed off, shaking her head sadly.

"It's confusing... I know. All of this," she said as she twisted the cap off the glass bottle. "It's all messy and there are too many emotions involved... but I don't want to stop." She looked over at Rachel, almost scared. "Do you?"

She shook her head, picking at the label on her bottle. "I don't want to stop," she whispered softly. "I just... I'm sorry if I get confused."

"Please don't apologize," Santana said. "you didn't do anything wrong. Sex... it's a big deal." She sighed. "I just don't know if I can handle figuring out what it all means right now."

"I," she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I'll understand if you want to... back off or something for a while. It's," her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, "it's kind of been a little overwhelming."

"I don't want that," Santana said as she played with the ends of her hair to distract her. "I don't want to stop. It's overwhelming but I feel like I'm... wanted and that I'm me for the first time in a long time." She looked at Rachel and asked softly, "Do you need to stop?"

She shook her head quickly. "No! I mean... no. I just don't want you to feel pressured, Santana. I know we're trying something... unusual. I'll make mistakes, I can't help it. I'm not used to feeling like I'm carrying out some illicit affair," she laughed self-deprecatingly. "Though perhaps given my history from high school, I should be used to it I suppose."

Santana chuckled softly. "Maybe," she said as she took a long swig of her beer. "But, at least we have a good reason for hiding." She sat up and put her beer back on the table. "I just... we can't risk everything right now. Your career, my job, Brooklyn's emotions and I really don't want Quinn in our faces being all smug about being right."

"I understand all that, Santana." Rachel sighed, setting her beer down on the end table half drank. "I just... I want you to understand that if I make a mistake it's not because I'm not trying. I know it's not just you and me. I know there are outside factors. Lots of them." She reached over and took one of Santana's hands. "I want this... us... whatever we're doing. I want it to work, Santana. I want," she licked her lips, smiling shyly, "someday, I want maybe for us to be happy and not have to hide, okay? It might just be a dream, but... I like it."

"Until then," Santana said softly, squeezing Rachel's hand, "we have this... we have our friendship and we have all of the other stuff that we are figuring out." She ran her thumb across the woman's palm and smiled. "I like it too..."

"We'll figure it out if you give us time." Rachel smiled lopsidedly. "But your friendship is the most important thing to me. Without it, the rest doesn't matter, so that's what I'm cherishing. Alright?"

"Okay," Santana whispered before sliding closer and resting her head on Rachel's shoulder. After a few minutes of silence, she said, "You should really cherish the sex though... that's pretty stellar." She smirked and looked up to her lover.

"And to think I haven't even gotten to do anything more to you than that very awkward first encounter," she mused, wrapping an arm around Santana's shoulder. "I'll _show_ you stellar when I finally get my turn."

"Tomorrow," Santana whispered. "When Brooklyn's not here." She kissed the inside of Rachel's wrist. "We can do whatever you want."

"I want to see you," Rachel murmured with a husky note to her voice. "I want to taste every inch of your skin. But most of all," her voice dropped to a husky growl as she leaned down to whisper in Santana's ear, "I want to make you scream. I've been _waiting_ for my chance to hear you climax with my lips around your clit and my name falling from your lips, Santana. _Patiently_."

"Fuck," Santana whimpered. "Don't get me worked up now before we go to bed.. you know what could happen," she said as she looked into Rachel's eyes. "But you'll have full access to me."

"Mmm," she smirked down at her, "I do like to hear that. Want to take a shower before bed?" she teased, a brow raising in an almost eerie impersonation of Quinn.

"Don't look at me like that," Santana shuddered, "you look like a Fabray clone." She snuggled closer to her. "No shower, unlike you I do not possess that ability."

"The ability to take an exceedingly cold shower to... cool off?" Rachel snorted, "I'm fairly certain the controls work the same for you as they do for me." She thought about it for a moment then nearly burst out laughing. "You actually believe I _masturbate_ in the _shower_?"

"Babe, you masturbate in your dressing room," Santana pointed out, "and yes, I do believe you do rub one out in your shower."

Rachel laughed softly. "My dressing room is not wet with pulsating water. It's a little too distracting to hold myself up _and_ attend to my release. If you'd like to assist someday, I'm open to the challenge, but at this time, no, I do not engage in sexual activities of any nature in the shower."

"Ah." Santana nodded, with a yawn. "It's been a long day."

"It has," she nodded in agreement. "Do I get to show off my muscles and carry you to bed?" she teased softly. "Or are we going to fall asleep out here?"

"I would crush you," Santana said as she begrudgingly got up and stretched. She paddled into Rachel's room after brushing her teeth and washing her face. She slipped under the blankets and smiled when her daughter curled up in her arms.

Tending to her own bathroom needs, Rachel soon joined them after stripping out of her clothes and changing into her pajamas. Crawling into the bed on the other side, she wrapped an arm around Brooklyn and Santana. "Good night," she breathed, not expecting an answer as she drifted off.

"Night." Santana mumbled as she fell into a peaceful slumber.


	17. Chapter 17

Santana got up with Brooklyn and got her ready to go to the birthday party before Rachel managed to drag herself from her tired slumber. They left a note for her and headed out to get Brooklyn's friend a birthday present.

"What do you want to get Lilly?" Santana asked as they stood in the children's store, Brooklyn looking through the books and toys.

"Don't know." She pouted. "I don't know what she would like. She's got lots of stuff," she said as she looked up to Santana. "Do you think she'd like coloring books?"

"I think everyone likes coloring books." Santana smiled, crouching down beside her and kissing her head. "Let's pick her three and a pack of colored pencils, how does that sound?" she suggested as she grabbed a package of pencils.

"Okay!" Brooklyn smiled and picked up three that she had decided she liked for her new friend. Santana picked up a gift bag and guided the girl to the register. They paid and headed across the street to a small deli to have breakfast. "Mommy, can I have toast and jelly?"

"Sure." Santana smiled as she ordered toast, an apple juice, coffee and a bagel. They got their food and headed to a table, "You excited about the party?"

"Yes," Brooklyn said, as she took a bite of her food. "There will be lots of people."

"Mmhmm, you'll have lots of fun," she said as she took a sip of her coffee. "Then I will pick you up around four, right?"

"Can I call if I wanna come home early?" she asked nervously.

"Always." Santana smiled and wiped some jelly off of Brooklyn's face. "You just ask Lilly's mommy and you tell her my phone number."

"Okay!" She beamed up at her, her face pink with jam. "Are you playing with Rachie today?"

"Yep, we're gonna work together today," she said, "so we'll be at her house." She finished eating half of her bagel. "Do you like being there? I know you don't have your own bed, so you can tell me if you want to go home."

Brooklyn shook her head. "I like sleeping with you and Rachie, Mommy. And I like being with Rachie. She smells nice and gives good hugs and plays with me and sings really pretty like you."

Santana smiled and watched the little girl messily munch on her jelly covered toast. "Alright, baby," she said, "if that's how you feel." She took a sip of her coffee. "Drink up your juice."

"I wish Rachie could be with us always." Brooklyn nodded, sipping at her juice box.

"Yeah," Santana said, "but we do pretty good together on our own, right?" She smiled. "I wouldn't want to share you all the time."

"Aww," Brooklyn cooed, smiling up at Santana with a mouth full of toast and jam. "I love you too, Mommy. I like being with you bestest."

Santana just smiled and gathered their trash before dipping a corner of her napkin in the glass of water and leaned over to wipe Brooklyn's face. "Messy girl," she whispered. "Ready to bounce?"

"Going to Lily's now?" she asked curiously, clambering down off her chair. "I'm gonna have fun right, Mommy?"

"Yes." Santana smiled. "Her party is at her gymnastic place after you guys play at her house. So you can run around with all the other kids." She took her daughter's hand and picked up the gift bag with the coloring books and pencils safely tucked inside and headed out of the deli towards the address printed on the invitation. "You'll be a good girl?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, holding tightly to her mom's hand. "And I can come home early if I want too, right? You and Rachie will come get me?"

"You just call and we will be there in ten minutes." Santana smiled down at her as they walked the last few blocks. "I'm very proud that you are going. You're an amazing little girl," she said as she squatted down in front of her at the brownstone's entrance. "I love you and you call me if you want me to come get you."

Brooklyn nodded, taking the bag with the gift in her little hands and clutching it tight. "Mommy, if you don't answer, can I call Rachie's house? You'll be at Rachie's house, right?"

"Yes. You call mommy's phone first then Rachel though," she said as she patted the card in Brooklyn's pocket. "You have both numbers in your jacket, you just ask Lilly's mom okay?"

"Okay," she nodded, smiling bravely despite her anxiety about being without her mom, "I'll be good and have fun. Lily's nice."

Santana peppered her cheeks with butterfly kisses to make her laugh before ringing the doorbell. Lily and her mom opened the door and the little blonde girl smiled and hugged Brooklyn. Santana whispered that she loved her to daughter once more and watched them run off into the house. After a few minutes of talking to the girl's mom, Santana checked on her daughter one more time before leaving and walking back to Rachel's apartment. She let herself in and flicked on the coffee maker in the kitchen when she heard the shower running.

Hearing the door close over the water, Rachel turned it off and leaned out of the shower. "Santana?" she called hesitantly. "Is that you?"

"Yeah!" she called back, kicking her shoes off by the door and heading into the living room.

"Oh thank God," she breathed, getting out and wrapping a towel around herself before heading out of the bathroom. "You do _not_ want to know what I first thought when I heard you come in. Is Brooklyn off to her little soiree?" she asked, leaning up for a kiss.

"Think you had a home invader?" She smirked as she slid her hands over Rachel's bare shoulders. "And yes, she's being a brave little one and trying out her social butterfly identity."

"Yes, don't tease. It's entirely possible after all! I'm small and it would be a terribly tragic way to end my career just as it was beginning." She pouted dramatically for a moment before cheering up at the thought of the little girl as they walked into her bedroom. "I'm certain Brooklyn will be fine though. She does have both of our numbers if she needs rescuing however, correct?"

"Mmhmm. She will call us if she wants to come back," she said as she sat down on the bed and leaned back. "She'll be fine. She already forgot about me the minute Lilly came out."

"I highly doubt she forgot about you, Santana," Rachel murmured, moving to straddle her lover's hips. "I don't think anyone could forget about you, no matter how distracted they became."

"Yeah," Santana breathed as she rested her hands on Rachel's hips. "You... You are very naked right now."

"Am I?" She smirked, trailing her fingers lightly along the collar of Santana's shirt. "I _was_ just taking a shower, so I suppose that explains it. You're not though." She tugged lightly at the shirt. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable in... a little less?"

"Sure," Santana said as she let Rachel strip her of her shirt. She watched the girl, suddenly nervous that she has yet to be fully exposed in Rachel's presence despite the three times she's been with the smaller woman.

"Santana," Rachel chided gently, "I'm not going to bite you, you know. Well," she smirked teasingly, "not unless you ask me too." She ran her hands lightly over the exposed skin, fingertips teasing around the edges of her bra. "Do you like this?"

"Yes," Santana breathed out, watching her. "I just.. it's been awhile," she explained as she kept her hands busy by tugging down the towel that covered Rachel's body.

"That's okay." She smiled at Santana, leaning down to kiss her gently, arching up slightly to let Santana's hands pull the towel away and let it drop to the floor. "I'm not in any rush. I just would really and truly like to make you feel as good as you make me feel."

"I think you can convince me it's okay," she said as she kissed back, her lips softly drifting over Rachel's.

"I'll try to be very persuasive," she whispered, nibbling at Santana's lower lip as her hands brushed over the peaks of her bra covered breasts. "I've been told my mouth can be an argument all by itself when it comes to such discussions."

"Prove it," Santana breathed as she slid her hands down to Rachel's ass.

"I intend to prove it to your entire body, Santana," Rachel murmured, reaching around her to unclasp her bra and slide it off her. "I fully intend to spend as long as necessary discussing the matter with every little piece of you." She gently pushed her towards the bed. "Until your entire being is crying out for me and all thoughts of this being anything but perfectly okay are completely erased. In fact," she breathed out, lips brushing a nipple as she rolled her eyes up to look at Santana with a smirk, "I intend for the only thought to be _Why did I wait so long?_ "

With a soft whimper, Santana's back arched. Her body aching the moment Rachel connected her mouth with her nipple. Her hands slipped up and down Rachel's back as she closed her eyes at the feelings.

Rachel watched her for a moment as she slid her tongue around the hardening point, but soon she allowed her eyes to close and just surrendered to the enjoyment of what she was doing and the sounds Santana was making as she worked over her body. She toyed with lips, nibbled and scraped with her teeth and swirled and flicked at the tip with her tongue until it was hard and she could practically feel Santana's heart pounding with each lash of her tongue. Then she moved to the other one, keeping the first hard with teasing pinches and tugs of her fingers as she gave the neglected peak its due.

"Fuck," Santana moaned, her hips rising slightly against Rachel. She brought her own hand up and covered Rachel's breast and slowly needed it in time with Rachel's mouth.

Sitting back after another minute of teasing her body, Rachel gazed down at the stiffened nipples topping the heaving breasts of her lover with a satisfied smirk. "Do you believe that is a satisfactory argument or do I need to reprise any part in further detail? If it is, then I can move on... for now. I definitely," her hands cupped the full mounds, finger and thumb pinching just shy of too hard on the nipples, "believe I shall have need to revisit the subject in the future after all."

"I think you can move on," she whispered, leaning back against her elbows and looking at Rachel. "I'm bigger than I was when I in high school."

"It's nice," she murmured with a smirk as she slid down Santana's body, her lips briefly catching on the silver ring in her navel and sucking on it before giving it a tug. "I think you're even more sexually appealing now than you were then, if I'm honest. Which I am. Then you were amazing, but now... I just want to devour you." She punctuated her words with a low growl before nipping and sucking at the crest of Santana's hip as she worked on the button to her jeans.

Soft whimpers tumbled out of Santana's lips as she watched Rachel slide down her body. "Pregnancy does strange things to the body," she mumbled, her words sounding more like breathy whimpers as she ran her hand through Rachel's hair.

"It did _amazing_ things to yours," Rachel whispered with a soft moan as she finally got Santana's jeans undone and pushed down to let her nose have the first tantalizing whiff of the woman's arousal. "Sweet Barbra, you smell absolutely delectable, Santana." She looked up at her as she shoved the woman's jeans and soaked underwear down off her body to fall on the floor. "I want to taste you. I want to kiss you in the most intimate way possible. May I?"

"I," Santana said shakily, trailing off. "No one's done that..." She groaned, her hips arching up. She was trying to fight against her urge to run away. "In... in a really long time..."

"Then I hope I'll be a memorable first in a long time." She smiled shyly, her fingers brushing teasingly over Santana's hips for a moment. "But first," she moved back up to lay along her, their naked bodies pressing against each other for the first time, "I'd like to just kiss you for a bit if I may. There's no hurry, correct?" she whispered, leaning in to join their lips in a kiss that bordered on possessive.

Santana slid her legs up so she could cradle Rachel's hips with her thighs as the other woman pressed her body against her, their breasts sliding against each other. She kissed her, hands sliding into Rachel's hair as their lips fought for dominance.

Rachel moaned into the kiss, moving atop Santana and groaning softly to feel the wet heat of her lover's core brushing against her. "This is right," she whispered against Santana's lips, her hands coming up to tangle in dark hair. "There's nothing to be afraid of," a thigh slipped between Santana's, pressing up into her, "nothing to be nervous about. It's just us..."

"That," she mumbled, "feels good." Santana rolled her hips, her core sliding against the other woman's muscular thigh. "I don't want to come from just this again... I need more."

"More is something I _definitely_ want to give you," Rachel all but growled, her voice low and husky as she slid back down her lover's body, leaving nips and kisses in her wake. When she reached her belly ring, she swirled her tongue around it and tugs on it with her teeth. "Have I mentioned how incredibly sexy I find your piercings, Santana?" she purred, giving the skin around it a final lick before settling between her thighs.

Santana moaned. "I put it back in when I lost the baby weight." She arched her hips and watched as Rachel moved between her legs. "Y-you don't have to do that... You can just use your fingers if you'd prefer... I know sometimes people don't like..."

"If I didn't want to, I wouldn't," she pointed out, running her tongue between Santana's folds with a low moan of pleasure as she pressed her thighs apart with her hands. "God, you taste as good as you smell," she moaned, blinking dazedly before smiling up at Santana, her chin slick with Santana's arousal. "I actually enjoy this activity, Santana, though I assure you... fingers _will_ be involved when it's time to move on to another topic of discussion."

"Fuck," Santana moaned as her head fell back to the pillow. "Please..." She whimpered.

"I like it when you beg," she teased with a smirk, her thumbs pulling her folds open as she leaned in to stroke her tongue from her entrance to her clit and take the swollen nub just peeking out between her teeth to tug gently. She sucked on the hot flesh with a low groan of pleasure as her tongue lashed over the tip. Tanned fingers clenched in Rachel's hair as her body arched and writhed to the other woman's lips.

"I'm going to take you with my tongue first," she whispered as she pulled away, her breath hot and cold in puffs over the hyper-sensitive nub of her clit, "then my fingers. Then I believe perhaps if you're up to it, I shall do it again." With a teasing smirk she lowered herself to swirl her tongue around Santana's entrance for a moment, watching the expressions on her lover's face before slowly sliding inside, pressing her lips hard against her entrance as she tried to push as deep as she could.

"Son of a _bitch_!" Santana cried out as she felt her walls clamp around Rachel's tongue. It had been six years since the last time she had been penetrated and it had never been like _this_. Her body couldn't last long with the feelings that Rachel's ministrations were evoking in her. "C-close..."

"Mmm," Rachel mumbled indistinctly, her tongue sliding in and out as she lapped at her walls, throat working to drink down her arousal. A thumb reached over to stroke against her clit, strong brushes of the pad against her in time with her thrusting.

A silent gasp shuddered through Santana's body as she arched up. Her core clamped around Rachel's tongue and her body trembled as her orgasm surged through her. Rachel rolled her eyes to watched her face as she came with a smile pressing against her core as she kept lapping at her through the waves. When Santana's body finally came down, Rachel pulled away to look up at her with a teasing smirk as one hand descended to circle her entrance with two fingers. "I did promise to take you twice, didn't I?" she murmured as she slowly and carefully slid inside as she crawled back up Santana's body to kiss her again, her lips slick with the woman's arousal.

Santana tensed against the intrusion unconsciously, tightened by years of having nothing inside her. "Ow..." She whimpered softly as she felt her body stretch to accommodate Rachel's fingers.

She didn't move, her fingers still within Santana as she let her adjust. "It's just me," she whispered, kissing her lover's neck and keeping her hand as still as possible to give her the time she needed to get used to the feeling. "I promise I won't hurt you if I can help it. Do you... do you need less?" she whispered, uncertain.

"It's just been awhile," Santana whimpered, her eyes closed and tried to push aside the uncomfortable stretching.

"I thought you maybe... on your own," she whispered, carefully sliding out until she could fold up the second finger and re-enter with just the one slender digit. "Is... is that better?"

"Better." Santana sighed. "It... doesn't usually work for me and I just didn't feel into it enough to try after Brooklyn," she explained as she started to feel her body respond again. "I just never liked touching myself."

"I like touching you," Rachel murmured softly, slowly beginning to slide in and out, "and whenever you need release, you can come to me and I would be happy to," she sucked gently on her pulse point, careful not to leave a mark that would have to be explained, " _touch_ you as much as you desire. In whatever manner," she lapped at her skin, "you desire."

Santana's hips started to move with Rachel's, her breath catching as she could feel her essence coating her lover's hand. "I like you touching me."

"I'll touch you forever if you let me," she whispered, tilting her hand to let her thumb at Santana's clit as she curled her finger to stroke her walls with each thrust.

"Please." Santana groaned as she thrust her hips up, her thigh pressing into Rachel's core. "Try more."

Nodding, she carefully slid a second finger in on the next thrust, watching Santana for any signs of distress. "Is this okay?" she asked, giving the digits a slow pump.

She grunted as she thrust her hips into Rachel's finger and her thigh into the other woman's soaked core. "To-together?"

Rachel swallowed hard, pressing her forehead against Santana's shoulder as she trembled with each rub against her already extremely sensitive core. "T-together," she gasped, fumbling for one of Santana's hands and pushing it down between her thighs as she met the other woman's eyes. " _Together_ ," she whispered, needing to feel her inside.

Two fingers quickly filled her lover's channel as she thrust her own hips into Rachel's hand. She thrust her fingers quickly into Rachel as she got close to the edge, pressing a frantic kiss to Rachel's lips as she curled her fingers.

It was all it took. She'd already been close, but the kiss and feeling Santana fill her pushed her over the edge. She cried out against Santana's lips as she felt her body clench on the fingers inside of her. Santana came as soon as Rachel started to climax, her body arching up and shaking with pleasure.

"Rachel!" she called out against Rachel's lips.

It was easy to let go with Santana. There was no fighting for control like there was with Quinn. No desperate searching for something that wasn't there like there'd been with Finn. None of the vague fumblings with her almost lovers. It was Santana and it was right. She pressed kisses against any part of her she could reach as she came out of her climax, wanting more than anything to whisper "I love you" against sweaty, tanned skin, but swallowing the words back, knowing it wasn't the right time.

Labored breaths panted from Santana's lungs, her eyes half closed as she wrapped her free arm around Rachel's body to hold her close. She pressed lazy kisses to Rachel's lips as they lay in each other's arms.

"Thank you," Rachel whispered, not yet ready to withdraw her fingers from the other woman. She wasn't quite sure what she was thanking her for, only that she felt she should.

"Anytime." Santana smiled, her lips finding Rachel's. "We need to change the sheets before the kid comes back," she whispered as she rolled them to the side and snuggled close, "but can we just stay like this for awhile?"

"As long as you'd like." She smiled at her before snuggling into her neck. "I think I rather enjoy being naked with you."

"It's pretty awesome," Santana said with a yawn. She let her eyes fall closed as she listened to her heart's labored beating gradually slow to a more familiar pace.

"Almost as awesome as getting to hold you," Rachel whispered softly, not intending to be heard as she carefully slid her fingers out of Santana and licked them clean before wrapping both arms around the taller woman and snuggling close.

* * *

Getting cleaned up, dressed, and the bed changed was a minor adventure when they realized they almost woke up late to go pick up Brooklyn, but they pulled it off with a combination of laughter and panic. Heading down the street towards Lily's building, Rachel couldn't help but smile shyly at Santana as she glanced over at her.

"I'm really glad this happened, Santana," she murmured finally. "I'm glad _we_ happened. And... I look forward to it happening again. If you don't mind."

"I'm looking forward to it too," Santana said as she looked over shyly. "We just need to remember to set an alarm and get dressed before we forget about my kid next time."

"Excuse me? We didn't _forget_ , Santana, we overslept," Rachel smirked up at her. "And whose fault was it that we were so spent, hmm?" she teased, knowing it was both of their fault, but mostly hers - a fact she was currently taking a great deal of pride in.

"All I'm saying is prior to sex coma we should set an alarm." She shrugged and draped her arm around Rachel's shoulders. "That way we cover all of our bases."

"I think I can agree with those terms," she murmured, cuddling into Santana's side as they walked down the street. She was enjoying the closeness, even if it would end when they turned the corner to the block Lily's building was on.

"Me too." Santana smiled. "Do you want us to stay with you again?" she asked shyly as they headed towards the building, pulling her arm away.

Rachel straighted up as Santana's arm left her shoulders, but she smiled at Santana. "Why are you asking? You know I love it when you and Brooklyn stay with me. If you need to go home, I understand. I do have a show this evening after all and I don't want you to feel like you _have_ to stay there when I'm off working."

"We can stay and have a nice morning and then head home tomorrow afternoon. Does that sound okay?" Santana asked as they walked up the stairs.

"That always sounds okay." She grinned up at Santana happily. "It actually feels like a home when you and Brooklyn are there and I sleep tremendously better, so there is no possible manner in which I would turn down your offer, Santana."

"Even with my baby using you as a daybed?" Santana asked with a smirk as she knocked on the door.

"Especially then. I entirely enjoy cuddles." Rachel nodded firmly. "As I'm sure you've noticed by now."

"I have." She smiled as she saw Lilly's mom open the door. "Hi, Amanda, how was the party?"

"Went very well, all the girls had lots of fun." The red head smiled at the two women. "We were very happy to have Brooke here."

Santana smiled and saw her daughter run up to jump into her arms. "Hi, baby," she said, giving her a quick hug before straightening back up. "Thanks for having her. Have a good night. Brooklyn, say thank you to Mrs. Warren."

"Thank you!" Brooklyn chirped as she wrapped her arms around her mom's legs. Amanda smiled and said goodbye to them as she closed the door. "Mommy! Rachie! I had so much fun!"

"Did you, sweetie?" Rachel asked softly, reaching down to run a hand through Brooklyn's hair. "Would you like to stay at my place again tonight and tell me all about it when I get home from work?"

"Yes, please!" Brooklyn smiled as she took Rachel's hand then her mom's. "Mommy, we can stay?"

"Sure, sweetie," Santana said as she swung their hands as they walked. "Did you have lunch?"

"We had grilled cheese! It was yummy," she said as she hopped along tugging the older women's hands.

"That sounds tasty. Your mom and I kind of forgot to eat." She smirked at Santana over Brooklyn's head for a second. "I suppose we were too caught up in our work. But you'll remind us, right?"

"You forgots?" Brooklyn looked up at her, bewildered. "That's no good! Have foods when we get back to Rachie's?"

"Definitely," Rachel nodded, giving her hand a little squeeze. "Maybe you can help me make some noodles before I have to go to work?"

"Has to work tonight?" Brookyn pouted, "Not playing with mommy and me? Does Mommy have to go?"

"No, babe, Just Rachel," Santana replied. "We'll just stay at Rachels's until she comes home."

"That's right. I have show tonight, but I'll only be gone a few hours." She glanced at Santana. "I'm not feeling up to attending any of the cast parties and I'd rather just come home to the two of you anyway."

"Okay," Brooklyn said as Santana squeezed the girl's hand. "Mommy, Lilly loved her coloring books."

"That's great, sweetie. I'm glad you have a friend like her."

Rachel listened to them chatter as they walked the few blocks back to her building. It was strange how right it felt to have them there in her life so much sometimes, but she didn't want to change a moment of it. She smiled softly at the pair walking with her.

Not a single one.


	18. Chapter 18

It was bright, hot and barely a cloud marred the bright blue sky. Quinn wiped a bead of sweat away from under the brim of her hat and tugged on the hem of her shorts again. She felt self-conscious about wearing the short khaki shorts and the tank top for a date with Jay - especially one where she was going to meet several of his co-workers for the first time - but Santana had insisted it was the best choice.

Jay pulled up on his motorcycle without the sidecar for once and parked, hopping off to scoop her up into a hug and kiss her with a smile. "You look _gorgeous_ , Quinn. I think if a vote were held today, I'd be the luckiest man in the precinct having you at my side. Are you sure you're ready to ride behind me?"

"Yes," she said nervously. "I won't fall right? I can just hold on tight and I'll be fine? Like riding a horse?"

"Not exactly like a horse, but I like the idea of you holding on tight." He winked at her with a grin as he settled the helmet on her head. "I won't let anything happen to you, Quinn," he murmured, using a finger to raise her head up. "Not now, not ever. I promise."

"I know you won't." She smiled and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "Now, lets get going to that picnic. I expect you to dazzle me with your manly barbecuing skills and football tossing."

"Football tossing yes, but I'm sure the cooking will be under control when we get there." He laughed, climbing on the bike and grabbing the spare helmet to strap on. "Now climb on and don't be afraid to hold on as tight as you want. I'm a big boy, I can take a hug from a girl as pretty as you no matter how hard it is."

She rolled her eyes and climbed on the back, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder. "How's that?"

"Perfect," he turned his head just enough to see her as he smiled, "I can even hear you while we ride this way." Pushing the bike upright, he rocked it down off its kickstand. "Hold on tight, I'm going to head off now."

Quinn nodded against his shoulder and squeaked softly as he kickstarted his bike.

He laughed softly, but she could feel the vibrations through her arms around him. "Don't worry. I'll keep you safe. Wouldn't do to let my beautiful girlfriend get hurt, now would it?"

"Shush you," she said as she squeezed him tighter as they headed off down the street.

He just laughed and kept going.

* * *

Pulling into the park where the picnic was being held a little later, he kicked the stand down and rocked the bike up onto it. "So, how do you feel about this old beauty now?" he asked, patting the gas tank fondly. "You've ridden in her sidecar and now rode behind me. Only thing left is to drive her yourself." He pulled his helmet off and ran his hand through faintly sweaty hair as he turned to grin at her. "But how do you feel about the two ways you've ridden her so far?"

"I prefer being on the back," she remarked as she slid off and stretched her legs. "I don't really like the sidecar."

"The sidecar is officially parked for the duration then." He smiled at her, getting off himself. "Unless of course we need to carry something in it. I think I prefer feeling you against my back with your arms around me while we ride."

"It feels safer - the sidecar makes me feel like I'm gonna get smooshed every time we pass a car." She looked over at the large gathering of people. "Time to make that first impression, huh?"

"Believe me, Quinn," he smiled at her, taking her helmet and hanging it on his bike's handlebars across from his, "if anyone could make a good first impression on this group, it's you." His smile softened as he offered her his arm. "You could make a good impression covered in mud and wearing a burlap sack, but like you are... you'll knock them dead and they'll finally believe me when I tell them how lucky I am you're my girlfriend."

She chuckled, "Do they think you made me up?" She smiled as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"I'm not sure if they think you're entirely fictional or just exaggerated." He chuckled. "Even Morgan's not entirely sure what to think of you. After all, it's not every day someone like me meets an angel."

"Laying it on pretty hard," she smiled as she took his hand, "I'm not an angel. I'm just Quinn."

"You're an angel to me," he shrugged, smiling lopsidedly as they walked towards the gathering, "and that's good enough for me. And you're more than just Quinn. You're an amazing manager. A great friend and," he smiled shyly, raising her hand up to kiss it gently, "the best girlfriend I could ever ask for."

She smiled as she walked with him. "Do you want to come and hang out with my family next weekend?" she asked. "Santana wants to take her daughter to the Central Park Zoo and Rachel's coming and I would like you to meet them properly and hang out with us."

"That sounds amazing. I might have to leave early though." He shrugged sheepishly. "There's really no way I can get a full day off on the weekend right now, but I'll try and switch to get a night shift. But Santana and Rachel are your family? I thought they were just friends of yours. What about your mom or dad?" He looked curious, not realizing the minefield he was walking into.

"I would prefer to not talk about them," she said quickly. "My parents live in Ohio and I'm not close to them. I've known Santana and Rachel for years and Rachel had been the only constant in my life for the last six... so yeah, family."

He nodded slowly. "Oh. Okay. Yeah, that sounds great though. I'd love to _properly_ meet them, instead of the awkward way we have the last few times. I didn't know Santana had a kid." He smiled lopsidedly. "She's not scared of cops is she?"

"I don't think that child is scared of anything." She laughed softly, shaking her head as she thought about the headstrong little girl. "And yes, Santana has a daughter. She's five and a awkward mixture of Rachel and Santana's personalities."

"Santana and Rachel?" He raised a brow. "Are they... together? Like married with kids and stuff?"

Quinn laughed hard, having to stop and double over to try and contain it. "No... no. Santana has only been back in our lives since a couple months before Christmas," she said as she regained control over herself and they started walking again. "Rachel has a thing for Santana and I think Santana has one for Rachel but they are both too stubborn to realize it."

"Really? Huh," he shrugged, waving at his colleagues, "I wouldn't have thought that they way they've acted around each other that I could see. But it'll be neat to meet Santana's daughter. I love kids and rarely get enough time to hang out with them."

"She's cute, kids... are a blessing." She swallowed, knowing she'd have to tell him about Beth sooner or later. "We should go see your friends."

"They are," he nodded, "but I don't think I'd be ready for kids in my life right now. Little too young, you know?" He smiled at her, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Let's go meet the guys."

Quinn swallowed as she followed him plastering on a forced smiled before she saw her boyfriend embracing his friends.

"Hey there, girl," Morgan called, coming over to shake Quinn's hand with a smile, not certain how much physical contact the other woman was comfortable with. "Well, what do you know. Looks like you really did managed to hook the big fish here. Way to go."

Quinn smiled. "It's nice to see you too." She looked over at Ajay taking to what looked to be Morgan's husband. "I like having him here, he's kinda old fashioned in the good way."

"He's definitely old fashioned." She smirked, leaning down to pick up her son. "I bet he hasn't even come up to your apartment yet or invited you to his, has he. This is Ben, by the way. Ben, this is Quinn. She's Uncle Jay's girlfriend." The little boy waved at her before hiding his face in his mom's neck, making her chuckle. "Don't worry, he's just shy."

"Hi, Ben." She smiled, waving at him. "He's cute, how old is he?" she asked as she watched him peeking out at her. "And no he's been a gentleman."

"That's our Jay for you." She chuckled, shaking her head. "You want anything more than this pussyfooting around, you'll probably have to make the first move, alright? But Ben here's two. And I've got another one running around somewhere. Tonya. She's five. They're a handful sometimes but I love them and their dad." She smiled fondly at the man who appeared to be animatedly discussing some sort of sport with Jay.

Quinn smiled. "I'm okay with slow right now," she said as she looked over at him. "Those are fun ages, my friend's daughter is five and I can only imagine what it's like with two!"

"Some days hell and some days heaven with a lot of in between." Morgan turned her head to kiss Ben's cheek. "Being a cop means I don't get to see them as much as I'd like, but we get by. I've a handful of nieces and nephews who live around here to help Greg out though. Their parents too."

"That sounds nice," Quinn said she looked at her with a smile. "Sounds hard, but worthwhile."

She nodded. "It can be hard, having a family with a cop that is. But Greg always tells me it's worth it." She smiled over at him. "He calls me his hero. Silly man. But I can promise you this, if you can get Jay to be vulnerable with you and not bottle everything up or start drinking to deal with the stress of the job, he's going to be there for you no matter what."

"Sounds like we'll have to do that for each other," she said. "But I'll try my best to make sure he's okay."

"Good," she smiled at Quinn. "He needs someone to look out for him off the job. Come on, let's get the menfolk some food and fill our own bellies up, okay?"

She followed Morgan and winked at Ajay when he watched her walk away.

* * *

Rachel had Brooklyn carefully wrapped in her arms as she supported her against the railing surrounding the penguin enclosure. She smiled at the little girl, pointing out a bird diving into the pool. It wasn't often that everyone managed to get the day off together, but on the rare occasions that they did, she was quite possibly the happiest person around.

"See? They're little like us but they swim super fast!" she murmured, as Brooklyn laughed with pleasure. "Maybe someday you'll be able to swim like them too. What do you think?"

"You think?" Brooklyn asked. "You think I can learn to swim like penguins?" she asked as she looked around through the bars. "Do you think that we can go see the monkeys with mommy? Mommy likes monkeys."

"We can definitely go see the monkeys with Mommy." Rachel chuckled. "I like the big cats, though. Don't you think your Mommy's a little like a panther? All graceful and strong?"

"Nope, Mommy is like a bear she gives the biggest and best hugs." She smiled, looking over her shoulder. "Auntie Q's boyfriend is like a bear too."

"He is definitely a bear. But I really think your mommy is a big cat." She crinkled her nose at Brooklyn, helping her down. "She loves being warm and curling up with her favorite people. Like _you_ ," she added, tapping Brooklyn on the nose with a grin.

"And you!" Brooklyn exclaimed happily. "You're warm and cuddly. Can I be a kitten and you be big cats?" She asked as she took Rachel's hand.

Rachel laughed, straightening up. "Sure. Though I' don't think I'm big enough to be a _big_ cat. Maybe I'm a smaller one though? Santana!" she called. "You're the judge! What kind of cat would I be? I'm pretty sure you'd be a panther, so Brooklyn's your kitten."

"Well naturally... even though I'm really happy I didn't get called a cougar." Santana smirked as she scooped her little girl up into her arms. "I think Rachel might be a red panda though." She smirked mischievously at the other woman. "Tiny, adventurous and cute."

"Aw," Brooklyn pouted, snuggling into her mom's embrace, "but then you're not both cats."

"That's okay," Rachel smoothed back an unruly lock of the girl's hair as she smiled up at her mom. "Sometimes it's good to be different. I don't mind being a red panda."

* * *

"They're seriously not together?" Jay whispered, leaning down so Quinn could hear him where they stood across the path from them. "You're kidding right?"

"Yeah, I kinda want to puke," Quinn said as she took her boyfriend's hand. "They seriously make me want to heave they're so sweet sometimes."

"Really?" He looked down at her curiously. "Why? I think it's almost sweet. They both obviously love that little girl and they seem very fond of each other as well. Is that bad?"

"They just won't deal with it." She shrugged and leaned up for a kiss. "Can we just ignore them?" she asked as she followed them.

* * *

Santana swung their hands and as she walked with Brooklyn. "Baby, what do you want to have for lunch when we're done with the Zoo?"

"Hot dogs?" she asked curiously haven gotten to have the treat at Lily's party the weekend before.

Rachel blanched slightly but decided that she'd be able to find something to eat later and just let the child have her fun. Turning to walk backwards - trusting Santana to let her know if she was going to trip on something - she smiled brightly at the pair following them. "So, Jay, what are your plans regarding our Quinn?"

He blinked, wide-eyed at the sudden questions. "I... well, I... um..." he stammered, caught flat-footed.

"Rachel!" Quinn shrieked in surprise. "What are you even doing?" she demanded as she looked at her then back to Santana. "San! Control her!"

"Not mine to control," Santana said as she smirked at what Rachel was doing.

"Quinn, there is absolutely no reason for alarm." She smiled charmingly at the pair, taking secret amusement in Quinn's red cheeks. "He's obviously bidding for entry into our family unit, so it is natural for us - as the closest representatives of your family and the people who love you most - to be concerned as to his intentions towards you. I'm only looking out for you, Quinn. After all, I would be _most_ displeased if he were to break your heart," her smile turned cold for a moment, "and well, you and Santana know how I am when I'm displeased. So, Officer Singh? What are your intentions?"

"I," he stammered, blushing despite the tan of his skin and clearing his throat nervously. "I really like her," he admitted softly, glancing down at Quinn. "I mean, I _really_ like her. And I'd really like her to be in my life for a long time."

Santana just gaped at Rachel. "Holy shit, Rachel... time and place!" she hissed as she covered Brooklyn's ears.

Quinn looked pale, scared that Rachel was going to scare him off. She looked down at the ground and kicked a stone. "Rachel, you are dead," she hissed, embarrassed. "San! Find me a slushy!"

"Don't you even dare, Quinn," Rachel snapped, glaring at her. "Santana, exactly _what_ has been discussed just now that cannot be said in front of Brooklyn? And Jay, thank you. That was a lovely answer."

"Quinn," he looked down at her confusedly, "what are you getting so upset about? She's your friend... I'd expect those sorts of questions. And you should expect similar," he pointed out mildly, "when you meet my family."

"Yes, but I expect them to have more _tact!_ " Quinn glared, "And Brooke's ears got covered because San swore." Santana nodded and slipped away over to the concession stand.

"There is absolutely nothing untactful about requesting to know if your beau has good intentions towards you." Rachel frowned. "I haven't the faintest idea why you're getting so upset. I'd expect you to ask the same sort of thing of anyone I became involved with after all."

"I'll be sure to ask Santana's intentions awkwardly in public," she mumbled as she tucked herself into Jay's arm. "It caught me off guard, can we finish this trip to the zoo?"

Rachel rubbed her arms and looked down at the ground. "Perhaps it would be for the best if I simply returned home. I'm obviously just upsetting everyone, no need to wear out my welcome."

"Rachel, it's fine," Jay tried calming her down, but she was upset and not in the mood.

Santana came back over with Brooklyn who was sipping out of a cup. "Ready to see the monkeys?" she said, her hand sneaking onto the small of Rachel's back.

"Why you sad, Rachie?" Brooklyn asked as she held up her cup with two hands. "Want some of my treat? It's grape. It's yummy."

Rachel smiled softly, crouching down to Brooklyn's height. "No thank you, sweetie. I really don't like slushies. I had a few too many when I was younger. I'm just feeling tired. I think I might head home and lie down so I don't spoil everyone's outing with you, okay?"

"NO!" Brooklyn exclaimed. "I wanted to come with you!" Her lip started to tremble. "I wanted to play with you!"

"Brooklyn," Santana scolded. "Rachel, please don't go okay?"

"Please don't yell at her because of me, Santana. I wanted to come with you too," Rachel murmured sadly, unhappy that everything was ruined because of her. "I love spending time with you and your mom, but I'm making everyone upset... I suppose I'm still not very good with people."

"No! I didn't wanna come with anyone but you!" Brooklyn cried as she threw her slushy down and bolted.

"Fuck!" Santana said as she took off into a sprint after her daughter who was weaving through the people. Quinn reached out and took Rachel's arm so she wouldn't run after them.

"Let Santana handle this..." she said softly, "just don't leave."

"Why shouldn't I?" she hissed, trying to control her emotions. "I ruin everything. I don't even know why you're friends with me. I can't ask a simple question without everyone getting angry and then I _chased away_ a little girl who means the world to me!" She scrubbed angrily at her eyes. "Just tell me to go away if I'm that much of a bother, Quinn!"

Jay had taken off to help Santana catch Brooklyn before anything bad happened to her, leaving the two former lovers alone together.

"Jay doesn't know that we were together!" Quinn admitted. "He doesn't know and I don't know how well he would take to it. As much as I love you for what you said, it's very much different when it comes from my ex-girlfriend."

"What does it _matter_ that we were together if he doesn't even know? It's in the _past_ , Quinn." She stared at her, not sure if she was hurting from hearing that Quinn couldn't even acknowledge that they'd been together or just from being yelled at for worrying about her. "If you don't want him to know, _fine_. I'll be your dirty little secret. I don't care. I wasn't asking as your _ex-girlfriend_. I was asking as your _friend_ because I _worry_ about you." She jerked her arm out of Quinn's grasp. "But I guess that doesn't mean much."

"Please stop," Quinn pleaded. "I fucked it up." She looked at her and took her hand. "I got caught off guard. Please stop being upset. Please? Can we just have a good day? I'm so sorry. You're not a dirty secret. I'm proud to have been with you... he and I just aren't there in our relationship to talk about exes yet."

"You don't have to keep calling me your ex, you know," Rachel muttered, walking over to slump down on a bench nearby. "It makes it sound like we're not even friends. You're the closest friend I have. You're practically a sister... why can't I try to make sure he's not going to hurt you without being yelled at?"

"Because it caught me off guard, I'm nervous being here with him when we're still so new," she admitted. "I overreacted. I'm so sorry." Quinn crouched down in front of Rachel. "You are my family and I love you."

"So what?" she looked at Quinn sadly, "Do I need to expect you to revert back to high school whenever I catch you off guard around him? Should I start wearing those awful clothes and carrying my emergency slushy kit again?"

"No. Please don't hate me. Rachel, you can be mad at me for being a bitch today but please don't leave. Not because of me..."

"I'm not leaving," she sighed, wiping at her face again, "and I've never been able to hate you. It just _hurt_ that you threatened me with a slushie after all these years. And you were going to make _Santana_ get it for you... were you going to throw it in front of Brooklyn?" She hugged herself, feeling tiny and miserable. "Let her see what kind of loser I really am?"

"You're a brilliant, beautiful Broadway star," Quinn said as she cupped Rachel's cheek. "I was never going to do that. Never again," she said pressing a kiss to Rachel's head. "Brooklyn loves you, she adores and idolizes you."

"Sweet Barbra, would you and everyone else _please_ stop telling me how much Brooklyn loves me?!" She sat back against the bench, her hands tightly gripping her skirt to keep from lashing out. "I _know_ , okay? I don't need it thrown at me all the time! _Yes_ , she loves me, _no_ , her mom doesn't, so can we _please_ move on?"

"You need to get your shit together or you're gonna scare Santana away." Quinn sighed. "She's just as scared as you are and she might have more to lose." Quinn looked around. "We shouldn't talk about this here, not when you're upset and pissed at me."

"No we shouldn't talk about this anywhere," Rachel muttered, staring at the ground. "I just wanted to have a nice day with my _family_ today. I was so happy because we were all together." Her jaw worked as she stared at the ground. "Why did it all get messed up? You know me, Quinn. You know how I talk to people... why did you have to get upset and threaten me with _that_?"

"Because I'm scared that I'm gonna lose him when he figures out all the bad shit I've done," she said. "That he won't be okay with my past and I'm sorry I lashed out at you... I won't do it again."

"Don't make promises like that when you can't keep them," she muttered. "Quinn, do you remember high school? How messed up everything got because you were scared to tell Finn the truth about Beth?" She looked at Quinn, letting her see the honesty in her eyes. "Don't be like that with Jay. Just talk to him. He seems to be an honestly good man who truly cares about you. Tell him the truth. Don't hold back and don't lie. Maybe he'll be upset, but he'll appreciate the honesty."

"Yeah," Quinn sighed, "something about being a kinda gay teenaged mother doesn't really seem like the most attractive quality."

"What about being a gay teen mom?" Santana asked as she came back over holding a still crying Brooklyn in her arms, overhearing them.

"Nothing, San." Quinn sighed, standing up. "Is she okay?"

"She had a hissy fit and did her version of a diva storm off," Santana said as she rubbed her crying daughter's back. "Your boyfriend is handy to have around. He caught up to her before I did."

Rachel held her arms out to Santana trepidatiously. "Can I hold her?" she asked softly, ready to be rejected.

"Of course," Santana whispered as she carefully moved her daughter into Rachel's arms.

"Shh," Rachel murmured, cradling the sobbing girl against her chest. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise, Brooklyn. I'll never leave you if I have any choice in the matter."

Jay came jogging over a few minutes later with his arms full of cups and bottles. "I got some drinks for everyone," he explained unnecessarily as he started handing things out, ending with a bottle of water for Rachel. "I didn't know what else to get you."

She looked at the bottle and accepted it with a tiny laugh. "This is perfect, Jay. Thank you. Come on, sweetie. Stop crying, it's okay. You're going to see the monkeys and the bears with me still right?"

"I'll be good, please stay," Brooklyn whimpered, breaking her mother's heart with her cries. "I'll be you and mommy's kitten still. I'll be good and won't run away."

"It's good not to run away, but I promise I won't leave, okay?" Rachel smiled at her, kissing her head gently, her upset from earlier seemingly vanished now that she was interacting with the little girl. "So dry those tears, alright? Here, look. Jay got you a special cup. Doesn't it look like a monkey?" She showed her the cup of lemonade that Jay had handed her, having avoided getting any slushies after her comments earlier.

"Monkey cup?" she asked as she looked up from Rachel's shoulder. "For me? But... I was a bad girl."

"You're never a bad girl," Santana said wiping her daughter's cheeks. "You just got upset then scared mommy and Rachie. You scared Auntie Q and Jay too."

"And it was my fault for upsetting you," Rachel added. "You're our kitten. You're not bad. I promise."

* * *

Jay crouched by the end of the bench beside Quinn and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Are _you_ okay?" he asked softly, "You seemed upset, so I figured it'd be best to help catch the little one and give you some time with your best friend..."

"Yeah... I'll be fine." She sighed. "Sorry you had to see that." she said apologetically. "I wasn't really the nicest person for a long time and when I get scared it comes out still."

"It's okay," he smiled lopsidedly, "you're still the sweetest person I know. Even if you _do_ have a temper."

"I do," she said. "Was Brooklyn okay when you found her?" Quinn asked worriedly. "Santana looks scared."

"I caught her just before she could run into the street." He frowned, shaking his head. "I'd be scared too if that'd been my kid. She's really attached to Rachel to get that upset about the possibility of her leaving early..."

"She hasn't really had any family around her... San's a single mom and her parents kicked her out when she got pregnant." She sighed, watching Santana and Rachel try to calm the little girl down. "I think she's scared of being abandoned and her mom being unhappy."

"I don't think she has anything to worry about when it comes to being abandoned by those two," he mused. "By the way," he smiled at her, "I'm glad I got to meet your family _and_ I'm happy you've got someone who loves you enough to worry about me." He reached over and cupped her cheek, pulling her into a gentle kiss. "I really do plan on keeping you in my life for a long time, Quinn Fabray."

She blushed and hugged him. "I like the sound of that," she whispered against his chest.

* * *

Santana hugged her daughter as the little girl nursed her monkey drink. "Don't ever run away from me like that again," she whispered, "You scared me so much."

"I'm sorry, Mommy," Brooklyn whispered, cuddled between the two women on the bench. "I was scared."

"We were both scared when you ran away," Rachel pointed out. "Promise you won't do that again? You're a big girl, Brooklyn. When you're scared and no one is trying to hurt you, you need to talk about why you're scared so we can help fix it. Okay?"

"I know," she whimpered and sucked on her straw. "I was upset."

"I know, beautiful." She leaned in and kissed her daughter's temple. "I love you so much and please never scare me like that again. If it wasn't for Ajay you could have gotten really hurt."

"He caught me," she whispered. "He's a lot bigger than you and Rachie, Mommy. I was up high when he picked me up."

Santana laughed. "Maybe he can toss you around if you ask him nicely when we go play in the park." She smiled and pushed her hair back. "Come on, baby, let's go see the monkeys then go to the park and have some lunch."

"Really?" She looked slightly cheered up by that idea. "Would he really? Come on, Rachie! Monkeys and park so we can play!"

Rachel laughed, letting her pull her up off the bench. "She certainly doesn't stay upset long, does she?"

"Nope, we have a mope for ten minutes then cheer up policy in the Lopez household." Santana smiled, looking around to make sure no one was watching before leaning over and secretly kissing Rachel's cheek behind Brooklyn's head. She stood up and picked up her daughter and moved her so she was riding piggy-back.

"Come on, you love birds, let's go check out the last exhibit and then get some foods," Santana called over to Quinn and Jay as she headed off.

Rachel stared at Santana in a form of shock at the little kiss. Sure, it was just a peck on her cheek but it was far more than she'd ever gotten from the other woman in public around the rest of their unusual little family. She licked her lips slightly, nodding slowly. "Y-yes. Santana's right. We should be moving if we wish to have time to play in the park before Jay has to leave to prepare for work."

He groaned, rising to his feet and holding out his hand to help Quinn up. "Don't remind me. I hate working nights on the weekend, so you ladies better be worth it," he teased.

"I'm worth it!" Brooklyn called over. "I'm fun!" She smiled as she hugged her mom's neck.

"She is so much like you it hurts." Quinn remarked as she nudged Santana's arm.

"She is the epitome of Santana's charm and vigor without the occasional descents into anger that marked her earlier years," Rachel pointed out, catching up to the others. "I happen to think it's adorable."

"You would." Quinn smirked as she walked with Ajay towards the monkeys that Santana and Brooklyn were already looking at. "I'm taking you to Lopez Anonymous. You need a program to help you with your addiction." she joked.

She looked at Quinn like she'd lost her mind. "Don't be ridiculous, Quinn. First, such a thing doesn't exist. Second, I'm not _addicted_. That's absurd."

Quinn just smiled and moved to the edge of the enclosure. Most of the orangutans were laying about but there was a smaller one that was swinging on a structure.

"Mommy look, just like in the Jungle Book movie!" Brooklyn giggled as she watched the monkeys.

"Which one?" Rachel asked idly as she came over, moving to lean against the railing beside Santana and Brooklyn as the little girl pointed out the big orange primates to her mom.

Brooklyn pointed up at the larger animal moving around to the baby. "Like the singing monkey, the king!" she smiled as she hummed happily.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, I wanna be like you ooh, ooh," Rachel sang softly with a smirk. "I wanna walk like you, talk like you ooh, ooh, ooh."

Jay laughed. "You got a pretty nice voice for a silly song."

"Yay!" Brooklyn clapped. "Rachie sings pretty!" she smiled and wiggled on her mom's back which made Santana reach her arms around to hold her closer.

"Yes, maybe we should be auditioning you for the Jungle Book musical." Quinn smirked as she put her hand on Brooklyn's back just in case.

Rachel scowled at Quinn. "I hardly think my repertoire is suited to the musical caperings of an overweight, smelly _orangutan_ , Quinn. Don't you even _dare_."

Jay laughed softly, leaning down to kiss Quinn's cheek. "Stop baiting the bear, sweetheart."

Quinn chuckled, and shook her head. "Whatever short stuff." She smiled and stuck her tongue out at Rachel.

"Alright children," Santana called as she turned away from the Monkey's when Brooklyn started to get bored. "Park and food?"

"Food!" Brooklyn cheered, looking up at her mom with big, pleading eyes. "Hot dogs?"

"Yes little monkey," Santana chuckled as she held her on her hip despite the fact she was really too big to be carried so much, "you may have a hot dog." She kissed her daughter's nose, "What about you guys? Hot dogs? They have the falafal places in the park Rach."

Jay shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

"Let's at least make sure the stand serves kosher hot dogs," Rachel sighed, giving in, "then at least it's high quality meat and it's all beef. I doubt Brooklyn would be happy eating pork since I know you avoid it, Santana. Perhaps I can find something less... dubious to eat for those of us not in the mood for hot dogs as well?"

"Yep." Santana said, "I think there is a cafe thing that's not a cart near the playground." She settled Brooklyn on the ground, making sure the girl took both her and Rachel's hands before she headed them towards the exit. "I called earlier and they don't have tree nuts in their stuff and it's not all pre-packaged."

"You're getting almost as good at forethought about these things as I am," Rachel teased. "Then, after we eat, the more vigorous can play while the others rest. How does that sound?"

"Works for me." Jay grinned. "Though I doubt you'd be able to keep up with me, Tiny."

She laughed. "Oh, is that a _challenge_?"

"Perhaps," he smirked, an arm resting casually around Quinn's shoulders as they walked.

* * *

Santana chuckled as they walked into the cafe. She brought them up to the counter and looked over the menu, thankful that they had an organic hot dog. She ordered one of those and a veggie wrap for herself with fruit on the side for her and Brooklyn to share.

Deciding on just having some fruit when the person behind the counter refused to make the veggie wrap without the mayo-based sauce, Rachel finished ordering, then gestured for Quinn and Jay to submit their orders as well. Before too long, the group was heading back outside to find a table.

"I'm sorry there isn't more for you to eat here," Santana said sadly. "I have some of those vegan granola bars in my purse if you want them."

"It's fine, Santana. Thank you for thinking of me, but I promise that this is sufficient," she smiled at her, nibbling on a piece of pineapple.

"Weird that they wouldn't just make the silly thing without the sauce," Jay commented, taking a bite out of his hot dog.

She shrugged, "It's fine. I've learned to pick my battles and I really wasn't hungry enough to make that one of them."

Brooklyn looked anxiously at the hotdog on her plate. "Mommy, cut in half?" she asked as she tried to figure out how to eat it.

"Of course." Santana said as she cut it in half and put a napkin down her shirt to prevent ketchup accidents. She helped the girl get a handle on it before taking a bite of her own wrap.

"Perhaps cutting the meat in half lengthwise would help as well?" Rachel suggested, looking nervously at the size of the bite Brooklyn was trying to take. "Or maybe into bite size pieces?"

"Babe, nibble." Santana said, "Like a little bunny." Nodding, Brooklyn started taking smaller bites and Santana turned to Rachel with a shrug. "She'll get it _everywhere_ if we cut it anymore."

"If you're certain..." She still looked nervous, but she ate at her fruit relatively quietly as everyone chatted while eating.

Once they'd all finished and cleaned up, Brooklyn wiggled out of her seat at the table and hurried around to tug on Rachel and Jay's hands. "Play now, please? I wanna fly. Can I? Please?"

Jay laughed. "If it's okay with your mom, then sure."

"Yay!" she cheered, looking at Santana. " _Please_ can I fly, Mommy?"

"Alright, but you listen to Rachel and Ajay, okay," she said as she looked the girl in the eyes. "You be good and polite." Santana kissed her head and swatted playfully at her butt as she ran off with her two playmates. Santana grabbed Quinn's hand and their bags and headed over to the grass. She laid out the blanket she had stuffed in her backpack that morning and plopped down on it.

Quinn settled down beside her, watching Rachel and Jay run around the field with the little girl playing what looked like a modified version of tag that involved Brooklyn being scooped up and swooped around to try and tag Rachel. "They're having fun," she murmured, glancing over at Santana. "I'm sorry about earlier. My overreacting and upsetting Rachel really didn't help things."

"It's fine. I didn't help ether." She shrugged and slid her glasses over her eyes as she took off her zip sweatshirt to get some sun on her shoulders. "It was a really random timing for her to say that. She shouldn't have done it right there and then."

"Yeah, but I guess I should have expected it out of her," she shrugged, leaning back on the blanket with her hands folded behind her head. "I mean, it's Rachel. When has she ever really been tactful without being prompted?"

"This is true," Santana said before sliding over and resting her head on Quinn's stomach. "She's kinda crazy... but in a good way," she stated before looking over at Ajay lifting Brooklyn up. "I like him, Q. You should keep him around. I might needs a couch moved and he's sturdy."

"You would go to your heavy lifting benefit when it comes to _my_ boyfriend." Quinn laughed, ruffling Santana's hair. "I suppose at least I don't have to worry about Rachel trying to steal him when she's all wrapped up in you, hmm?" she teased, probing to see if what she was starting to suspect about them was true.

"She's not wrapped up in me," she said as she turned her head to look at Quinn. "She's just really good with my kid."

"Yeah," Quinn scoffed, "and being good with _your kid_ is why she goes out of her way to do things for _you_ like making sure she has your favorite snacks around or knowing your coffee order."

"I'm not really sure, since I'm just her assistant," Santana said with a shrug. "I know your favorite snacks and coffee order, does that mean I'm wrapped up in you?" she challenged.

"Uh-huh," Quinn agreed easily, ignoring the challenge altogether, "and your bosses _always_ have known your tastes in things, hmm? Or taken the trouble to find things out about you to surprise you? And don't think I haven't seen the way she smiles at you."

"Back off, Q," Santana warned as she looked away. "What about you and the cop? You doing it yet? Did it break your streak of lesbianism?" she asked trying to change the subject.

"No, Ajay's a gentleman and isn't being pushy like Finn or the other boys were," Quinn huffed, annoyed at being put off. "And Rachel's the only woman I ever slept with. Big streak."

"You almost slept with me," she pointed out with a smirk and looked over her friend. "Are you ready to be knocking boots with him? Wanna go get _profloacticos_?"

"I don't know," she turned her head to watch him and Rachel laughing and running around with Brooklyn. "He doesn't know about my past so... maybe not yet. What about you?" She grinned wickedly at Santana, happy to turn the subject back to her. "Would you _knock boots -_ as you so crudely put it - with Rachel if she offered?"

"We're not talking about my non-need for condoms and birth control; we're talking about yours," she said, not rising to the bait. "I'll make you an appointment if you want. I'll come with ya."

"Santana, I am _not_ fifteen any more," Quinn huffed. "I've been on birth control since after Beth was born. Besides that I am a grown adult with a good career. Why do you have to act as if I'm completely incapable of taking care of myself sexually?"

"I was just offering." Santana pouted. "Damn, sorry for being a good friend."

"You _are_ a good friend," she reminded her. " _Without_ being awkwardly overly interested in my sex life. But I promise that I'll be careful with Ajay, Santana. Giving Beth up hurt enough. I never want to have to go through that again."

"I know..." She sighed. "It's just when I started sleeping with girls I went off birth control... then Brooke happened. I know you wouldn't do that again I just don't wanna see you hurting anymore."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but it was just easier to stay on birth control while I was with Rachel," Quinn shrugged. "It... regulated things, made my mood swings a little less drastic. I've mellowed as I've gotten older, but it's habit to stay on it now. I'm not going to go off it until I'm either ready to have a kid again or too old to worry about it."

Santana nodded. "Yeah," she said as she looked over at her daughter. "You think you want another kid someday?"

She laid there for a moment watching Jay tossing a laughing Brooklyn up in the air and smiling softly. "I don't know. Maybe." She glanced down at Santana. "Think you'll be around to keep me from panicking if I do?"

"Of course." Santana smiled up at her. "I would love to be around and help you out." She reached up and tapped Quinn's nose, "You'd be a great mom."

"Maybe," Quinn smiled wistfully, "I already gave up once though. What about Rachel?" She nodded at the young woman rolling around in the grass with Brooklyn. "Think she'd be a good mom?"

"You didn't get a chance but you gave someone else that chance. Doesn't mean you can't have a baby of your own someday. Rachel? She'd be a great mom." Santana said, "Though I doubt she'd be willing to get pregnant and spend that much time away from the stage."

She snorted. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. I'm pretty certain she's got time scheduled off specifically to have kids written into that ridiculous life plan of hers."

"I know." Santana said, "She's still really young though. She has to make it big first, taking time off in the next few years would ruin her career."

"So why don't you do it for her?" Quinn teased. "You've obviously got good genetics and you're into her."

"I think that would take my _assistant_ role to a whole new level," she said, dryly. "I don't think letting Rachel rent out my womb for her offspring was part of my contract," she added. "Unless that was in the fine print?"

Quinn sucked on her teeth for a moment, frowning at Santana. "You are determined to not admit you want her, aren't you? This isn't going to be another Brittany mess, is it, Santana? She's right there. She adores Brooklyn and she's just waiting for you to be willing to let her in..."

"Quinn... I'm not talking about this," Santana said, shaking her head. "I'm focusing on my daughter and my job... It's too much to handle anything else."

She sighed, shaking her head. "God, you're stubborn. Just... don't wait forever, Santana. She's loyal and she'll give you everything she has if you let her, but if she finds someone..."

"Quinn. Just please stop, okay?" Santana said, "We're figuring it out... we're handling it."

Her eyes narrowed and she sat up slightly. "Figuring out what, Santana? You've both been insisting the other all but hates you so... figuring out _what_?"

"Jesus, Quinn we're sleeping together!" Santana said in a huff. "You can't fire me okay? I need this job... you can't tell anyone."

"You're _what_?" she stared at her with wide eyes, jaw slightly dropped. "Santana, I'm not going to _fire_ you over being involved with Rachel. I just... you're seriously sleeping with her?! For how long?"

"About a month and a half," she whispered as she sat up and hugged her legs.

"Jesus," Quinn whispered, sitting up the rest of the way. "And you two keep insisting that you're not together... you've been lying to me?" she sounded hurt. "God, Santana, I wouldn't _fire_ you over doing the one thing I'd been pushing you to try..."

"I... I can't..." She said, "I'm scared to do this again. It's more than me this time. It's my job, it's my _daughter_. If I fuck this up or if Rachel leaves... Brooklyn will get hurt. I can't risk telling her until we're sure."

"Fine," Quinn took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "don't tell her until you're sure, but I can promise you, Rachel won't leave. Look at me," she shrugged with a lopsided smile, "I came so close to actually physically hurting her before we broke up, but she's still here. Look at how she was with Finn or Jesse in high school. She's really that kind of loyal, Santana. You'd have to do something pretty awful to lose her now that she finally has you..."

"I know." She sighed, and rested her head on her knees. "I just... Rachel doesn't wanna be public because of her job. I'm not ready to tell Brooklyn despite the fact she loves Rachel. I can't properly date her because I don't have any time..."

"Santana," there was a tone of warning in Quinn's voice, "if you're just using her to get off... end it now. She's wanted you forever and the longer you're together, the more she's going to fall for you. So if this is just something you're playing at because you can't get anything better..." She shook her head as she trailed off.

"That is _not_ what's going on!" Santana exclaimed, jerking back upright. "I care about her! It's just fucking scary okay?"

"Shh!" Quinn hissed at her as she noticed Rachel looking over worriedly. "Calm down, okay? I'm just worried about her. She still opens herself up too fast and I don't want her getting hurt." She reached over and rubbed Santana's shoulder. "It's okay, Santana. I've been giving you more responsibilities at work to protect you in case something like this happened." She sighed softly. "So... are you two like... dating or just..." she trailed off again.

"I don't know what we are." Santana sighed. "It's not just sex because there are... _feelings_ and she spends too much time around my daughter for it to be just that. I think about her when we're not together and I like spending time with her... but I also know it's not dating because we can't be together in public."

"You sure about that?" Quinn asked with a wry grin. "Cause the three of you do tend to show up together in a lot of places." She rubbed at her eyes. "Okay. If you want her, San - and I mean really _want_ her in your life - then go for her. Leave any fallout to me. I can handle it." She paused a moment, glancing at her oldest friend with a gentle smile. "I still want you on my team as more than an assistant though. You should really give college a thought."

"Maybe when Brooklyn is a big bigger. She has all of my non working time now and I want to give that to her. My parents left me with a babysitter most of my childhood to work, I don't want to do that." She sighed. "Maybe online courses in the fall..." She looked over and saw the three coming over to them. Brooklyn ran up and pounced on her mother before snuggling in her chest.

"Mommy, you see how high Jay made me fly?" Brooklyn asked.

"I know, babe! It was awesome, did you say thank you?" Santana questioned as she looked over at Rachel and handed her the water bottle.

"Uh-huh," Brooklyn nodded, reaching for her monkey cup to get a drink. "It was lots of fun, Uncle Jay."

Rachel just laughed softly and shook her head at the appellation. "She came up with that on her own, Santana. Don't look at me."

"It's okay," Jay chuckled coming up to flop down beside Quinn with a content sigh. "I have no problem being an uncle to a kid that cute."

"She's gonna get such a complex," Santana said as she laid back down and put her head on Rachel's thigh when Brooklyn was done drinking. The little girl nuzzled against her mom's sun warmed skin as they laid against Rachel.

Quinn sneakily snapped a photo of them on her camera before they could notice.

"Why would she get a complex from having a family, Santana?" Rachel asked curiously, idly brushing her fingers though the woman's hair absent-mindedly. "That seems a little odd, don't you think?"

"Cause she's mini-me." Santana smiled as she held her daughter who had promptly fallen asleep. "She likes the attention."

"She deserves the attention." Rachel chuckled softly, smiling at Santana the special way she reserved for the woman, even though she hadn't noticed it yet. "You both do."

"Yeah, yeah." She shrugged. "Quinnnnn," Santana whined, "can we take naps here? Don't wanna move."

"You can take a nap wherever you want, Santana." Quinn chuckled softly. "Nothing's ever stopped you before after all."

"This is true." Santana said with a nod, letting her eyes fell closed as she snuggled her daughter. Quinn rolled her eyes and watched them for a few moments, smiling when Ajay moved to put his head in her lap.

"I swear to God she's narcoleptic." Quinn chuckled as she rested her hand on his chest. "We should get you to work soon."

"Mmm, in a bit." He smiled up at her, reaching up to run his fingers through her hair. "Can I just enjoy a moment with my favorite girl first?"

Quinn leaned down and kissed him softly. "I don't like worrying about you on night shifts. New York is shady at night."

"Everywhere is shady at night, angel." He shrugged. "But if it'd make you feel better, I could come by and see you when I get off tomorrow morning?"

"I'll make you breakfast before you crash, okay?" she said as she slid her hands over to his and linked them. "You can sleep at my place if you want so you don't have to go back to Queens."

"You want me to come up to your apartment?" he asked softly with a shy smile. "I... I'd like that..."

"I don't want you riding your bike when your sleepy," she said. "But yes, I'd like to give you breakfast and let you sleep at my place."

He nodded, pulling her down to kiss her softly. "Is it too much or too soon to ask if you'll lie with me for a bit before you head off to do whatever it is angels do on Sundays?"

"Church?" she teased. "And yes, I'll lay with you before I leave and when I come back if you'd like."

"Oh ugh, you reminded me. I have to go to church or I'll never hear the end of it." he groaned. "Want company and we can nap after?"

"God understands that you're a cop, " she said. "Decide in the morning okay?

"God may understand but Momma doesn't," he shrugged, grinning ruefully, "and I've never been able to lie to Momma. It'll be fine if you don't mind me being around all day... probably sleeping mostly though."

"I'm okay with that," she said as she ran her fingers through his hair. "So come to church with me?"

He glanced over at where the other girls were dozing in the warm sun and licked his lips before glancing up at Quinn again. "Come to Ramapo with me next month and meet my family? I know it's early and you don't have to, but... I want to introduce my angel to them." He raised her hand to kiss the knuckles. "It's okay if you don't want to yet though. Don't worry. We have lots of time for that later if you think it's too soon..."

"Sure," she said softly. "Can we talk some tomorrow? I have a few things I need to tell you." She looked down nervously trying to hide the shake in her voice.

"Nothing bad right?" He asked with a nervous chuckle. "I mean, you're not married right? And you haven't killed anyone or done horrible things to kids, right?"

"No." She wondered if giving her daughter counted as a _horrible thing_. "I just need to tell you a few things."

He nodded. "Okay. Sure. We can talk tomorrow." He smiled at her. "Maybe over breakfast?"

"Sounds good," she said before kissing him. "We should wake them up before they burn."

"Yeah. I need to get home to change before I go in tonight too." He nodded, sitting up with a low groan. "Hey, you three," he reached over and shook Santana's ankle, "rise and shine. You know for two people who aren't together, you sure look like a family."

"Don't make me steal your tazer," Santana mumbled as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Time to head home, baby," she whispered to her daughter.

Rachel groaned as she pried her eyes open when Santana and Brooklyn started stirring. "That's it. I'm officially requesting a _real_ nap when I get home. Today has worn me out. Anyone want to second me on that?"

Jay laughed. "I'd love to, but I've got to get back to Queens and ready for work."

"I'll nap with you, Rachie." Brooklyn yawned. "Mommy and Auntie Q can play."

Rachel chuckled softly. "That sounds wonderful, sweetie. Let's head home so we can do that, okay?"

Brooklyn scrambled up and tugged at Santana's hand. "Mommy, let's go."

"I think I have usurped your place as chief cuddler during nap time," Rachel teased, standing and dusting herself off before offering a hand to Santana.

Jay helped Quinn up. "Come on, angel. Walk me back to my bike for a kiss good luck for a quiet shift tonight?"

"Of course." Quinn smiled as she got up and walked with him.

Santana took Rachel's hand and got up. "Come on, beautiful girls," she said as she picked up their stuff.

"I get to nap with Rachie?" Brooklyn asked, looking up at Santana with a smile. "We going home with Rachie or she going home with us?"

Rachel just glanced at Santana and shrugged, leaving the decision up to her.

"Your choice today, Brooklyn. Where do you want to sleep?" Santana asked as she slipped her bag over her sun kissed shoulders.

"Hmm," she thought about it, "my bed? We can cuddle with Froggie and Pony too then." She smiled between the women.

"Sure, that sounds fun," Rachel murmured, squeezing her hand as they walked past Quinn kissing Jay on his motorcycle. "Having fun, Quinn?" she called out teasingly, letting her know they were leaving.

Quinn just raised her hand in a wave, never detaching her lips from Ajay's. Brooklyn scrunched her face up for a second before tugging on Santana's shorts. "Mommy? Why is Uncle Jay eating Auntie Q's face?"

Santana chuckled and escorted her daughter towards the street with Rachel. "They're kissing."

"Because they like each other very, very much," Rachel added, rolling her eyes at Santana with a fond smile.

Brooklyn thought about that for a moment, then looked up at Santana with big eyes. "Mommy, how come you never eat Rachie's face? Don't you like her?"

Rachel turned bright red and clamped her mouth shut to avoid laughing at the startled expression on Santana's face.

Santana gaped. "Baby, Uncle Jay is Quinn's boyfriend. She... She can do that with him," she stammered pleading with her gaze for Rachel's help.

Brooklyn pouted and stamped her foot before Rachel could say anything. "Rachie, you should be Mommy's boyfriend. Maybe if you eat her face she'll be happy like Auntie Quinn is with Uncle Jay."

"Brooklyn," Rachel chided gently, "I can't be your mom's boyfriend. I'm not a boy."

"That's not _fair_!" she pouted. "You make Mommy smile. I like when Mommy smiles! Why can't she be your not a boy boyfriend, Mommy?"

"Your Mommy just doesn't like me that way, sweetie," Rachel tried to explain, smiling awkwardly. "We're just good friends. Who love you very much."

"Brooklyn, let's just go home." Santana sighed, "We're done talking about this."

Brooklyn pouted, but quieted down as they continued back to Santana and Brooklyn's home.


	19. Chapter 19

The mid-afternoon light shone golden through the blinds in Quinn's bedroom. Alternating bands of shade and light fell over the man sleeping sprawled in her bed. A white tank top covered his chest as it rose and fell gently in sleep. One muscular arm rested flung over his eyes above the faint stubble covering his lower jaw while the other reached out towards the space where Quinn had been sleeping earlier as if looking for her in his sleep.

Quinn smiled as she watched him from the door. She had changed into loose cotton pants and a tank top when they got back from church so they could sleep a bit, but she grew restless and ended up moving to the couch so she could work while he slept. After a while, she got up to get a cup of tea and ended up watching him doze as she steeped her tea.

After a bit, he stirred slightly and moved his arm, blinking sleepily at her with a lazy smile. "Hi there," he whispered, his voice rough with sleep. "Have I slept too long?"

"No," she said as she moved to sit on the bed with him, "I was just watching you sleep."

"'Cause that's not creepy at all," he teased, sliding up to sit beside her. "Your bed's incredibly comfortable by the way. Thank you for permitting me to borrow it. I promise I would have been okay on the sofa."

"You like it." She smiled. "And yes, I invested my first real paycheck in this apartment and this bed."

"You make amazing decisions," he chuckled, leaning over to kiss her. "So," he yawned, "you wanted to talk to me about something? Got a captive audience right here."

She pressed another kiss to his lips, wanting to put off what she knew would be an upsetting conversation for a little while longer. She kissed him teasingly, her tongue sliding into his mouth.

He moaned softly, kissing back for a moment before placing a hand on her shoulder and pushing her back gently. "Quinn," he murmured, "much as I enjoy that - and I do, believe me - not much talking will happen if we do that..."

She slid his hand down to her breast, her breath catching in her throat feeling his large palm on her. She watched him, her breath picking up as she waited for him to react.

"Q-quinn," he swallowed heavily, carefully pulling his hand away, "angel... we can't. I... I wasn't expecting this and I don't have any protection. Please," he whispered, moving his hand to cup her cheek. "You're far too important to me to not treat you with the respect you deserve."

"I'm on birth control," she whispered, honestly terrified about talking about what she needed to tell him.

He shook his head. "Please stop pushing me, Quinn. I don't want to take a risk like that with you. Birth control isn't enough and there's no reason I can't take my part of responsibility. What's going on?" He stroked her cheek. "Just talk to me..."

She wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand and took a breath. "I have things to tell you... that you need to know so you can decide if you still want to be with me."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tugged her closer. "Then tell me. Whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it together, angel."

"I don't speak to my father and my mother pities me," she said. "They kicked me out when I was sixteen. I lived on people's couches for six months."

He frowned. "That's horrible. Who could do something like that to their little girl?"

"I deserved it," she admitted. "I'm a liar and a cheater..."

"That's not the woman I know," he murmured. "And no one deserves to be thrown out of their parents' house. Not ever, Quinn. For any reason. Parents are supposed to protect their children, not cast them out."

A strangled cry came from her throat at his words. "I... I did that. I threw her away and tried to forget about her. I deserved to get kicked out, to lose everything, to almost die just when I was getting everything together again."

"What are you talking about?" He frowned, shaking his head in confusion. "Threw _who_ away? Rachel? Santana? Don't be ridiculous, we just saw them yesterday. They're fine."

"My... my daughter," Quinn whimpered, hiding her face from him.

"Y-you... you have a daughter?" he asked softly. "Quinn, you have a daughter? You never talk about her. Did... did something happen to her?"

"I gave her away," she whispered. "I gave her away to the first person who asked..."

"You gave..." He licked his lips, trying to organize his thoughts. "You gave her away? Like for adoption? Not... not a trafficking ring or anything. But legitimate adoption. Right?"

She glared at him through her tears at the suggestion she'd give her baby to traffickers. "She got adopted."

He smiled awkwardly, trying to hide the fact that his job made it easy for him to jump to the worst possible conclusion. "That's good. She was adopted by a good family right? Someone who could take care of her?"

"No..." Quinn whimpered. "She was adopted by a single mom who had a baby for money then slept with my daughter's father."

"That is," he swallowed, "unpleasant, but... is she good to your little girl? Does she take care of her and love her and give her what she needs? Because that's what's important I think."

"Yes, she did the last time I saw her." Quinn sniffled, remembering breathing in the smell of lavender and baby powder the last time she was allowed to hold her little girl.

"Then you didn't throw her away, angel," he murmured, kissing her head. "You gave her to someone who could give her what you couldn't. There's no harm in that... none at all."

"I should have kept her!" Quinn cried. "I was selfish. I should have kept her... Santana had less than I did and she got to keep hers!" she said in a fit of jealousy.

"You were what... fifteen? Sixteen? Santana was _older_ , Quinn," he tried to calm her down. "Honestly, if you and I had been together then and I was the one who was so careless with you, I would have encouraged you to give her up for adoption." He cupped her cheek, trying to make her look at him. "Because you weren't ready to be a mom... you were still a child yourself."

"So? Santana got kicked out when she was seventeen! She's younger than me and Rachel... I didn't even plan... I regret it everyday."

"Stop living in the _past_ , Quinn," he scolded. "Santana is not _you_. She's not the woman I love and she also ran away from everyone, didn't she? She ran away and hid and had to do everything alone. Of course, you didn't plan! You were a _child_ , angel. You shouldn't have had to go through that at all."

"You love me?" she whimpered, "You do?"

"I, um," he stammered, not having meant to burst out with that. Licking his lips he took a breath and smiled nervously, "Y-yeah... that's not weird is it? I know we've only been together around six months now..."

"I love you too," she whispered.

He laughed with relief. "Good... that's, um, that's really good. You're not a bad person, Quinn. You're really not."

"I dated Rachel," she whispered, hoping that she could get everything out all at once. "I wasn't very good to her."

" _Rachel_?" He stared at her dumbfounded. "The same Rachel we were at the zoo with earlier? The one who I'm fairly certain threatened me if I ever hurt you? _That_ Rachel?"

"Yeah," she said softly.

"Oh... wow." He stared off for a moment, trying to figure it out. "That must have been... interesting. But," he looked at her uncertainly, "it's in the past, right? You're... you're just with me now?"

"She and I ended years ago," she said. "It never really was about anything more than comfort," she added before taking his hand. "I'm with you."

"You're sure?" He smiled lopsidedly, trying to take it all in. "I mean... she's a lot prettier than me."

"You're very pretty, Ajay," Quinn said before sliding onto his lap. "Plus, she's with Santana."

"No, she's not. You said yourself just yesterday that they weren't together," he pointed out.

"Santana told me after I said that that they're sleeping together... She's scared so they're not really _dating_ yet, but it's a step."

He groaned softly, reaching up to rub at his head. "Ugh, your friends' relationship gives me a headache." He glanced shyly at Quinn. "So is that it? All the deep dark secrets?"

"I think so," she said, pressing a kiss to his temple.

"Well, how about I tell you one of my own?" He smiled shyly.

"Please," she said softly, "I'd like that."

"This is probably going to seem pretty stupid," he ran a hand through his hair, blushing slightly. "But... I've only ever been with one other person. A girl, Sandy... in high school. She was an upperclassman and..." He frowned, and shook his head. "It's stupid, you'll just laugh at me..."

"Aw!" She smiled. "I love it," she said pulling him into a kiss. "I love that you are really as wholesome as you come off." She kissed him again. "Tell me? I'll give you more kisses," she teased.

"Bribing an officer of the law is illegal, Ms Fabray," he teased, looking down at his hands nervously he took a breath. "She... um, she chased me. I was flattered and well... I was a teenage boy." He blushed, shrugging. "She told me she loved me... that it was special and I was stupid enough to believe her." His shoulders dropped. "She... she dumped me almost the next day when she graduated. I was, I don't know... just some prize. It made me feel really... dirty. That's why I don't want to push you, Quinn..."

"You would never do that to me," she whispered, shaking her head. "And you _are_ special. You are very special." She kissed his lips again. "When it happens," she smiled leaning in close to whisper in his ear bashfully, "you'll be the second time I sleep with a man."

He winced slightly. "Can I please just pretend you've only been with Rachel before me?" he half joked. "Because I really do not want to think about you with another man... especially not one who didn't even have the decency to make sure you were safe. When," he blushed and cleared his throat, "I mean _if_ we have kids... I want to be ready for them. I want both of us to be ready and looking forward to it."

"I love you." She smiled and kissed him, reassured by his reaction. "I love you so much."

He smiled shyly. "Careful with that L-word. It's kinda like a bomb. Use it too much and you'll knock me out." He leaned over and kissed her gently. "I... I'll be more prepared next time," he blushed, "if you want that..."

"I do," she said shyly. "I can be prepared too... though kissing can't hurt, right? And," she blushed, "I... I liked your hand where it was earlier."

"I don't know how safe that is," he admitted shyly. "I think I might have liked it a little _too_ much," he added, gesturing towards the bulge in his lap. "It, um... it'd be rude."

Quinn blushed. "I know, I can feel it." She whispered, "What... what if I said I was okay with it?"

"I'm not," he licked his lips and shook his head with a rueful smile. "Not without a condom, angel." He cupped her chin and kissed her gently, "Not like that until we're married and ready for kids. Even if you are still on birth control."

"What if that wasn't what I was talking about?" she teased, smiling against his lips.

"W-what do you mean?" he asked softly, confused.

"What if we wanted to explore each other... without having... _sex_ but still finding it intimate?" She blushed, pulling away slightly.

He flushed. "I... um... that sounds great but I _really_ want to take a shower before any _exploring_ happens." He swallowed with a nervous smile. "I can't smell too wonderful anywhere you might, um, want to explore right now..."

"Gross," she said with a wrinkled nose. "You may shower if you'd like. Bathroom is there and I put a fresh towel in for you."

"Hey, I worked a full shift then went to church without taking a break. I just wanna be clean for you. You, um," he blushed, his voice softening, "you can join me... if you want."

"Do you want to explore in my shower or in my bed?" she asked him looking up and biting her lip.

"I'm open to both," he whispered with a shy smile, climbing out of the bed and offering his hand. "And aren't you glad that Morgan decided she'd rather switch my night shift tonight with her day shift tomorrow? We won't be back on schedule until Tuesday, but it means I get more time with you..."

She took his hand nervously, climbing out of the bed and following him into the bathroom. She bit her lip as she turned on the water running her fingers through it to get hot. "Very glad."

He looked at her nervously, looking as unsure as she felt. "How do you want to do this?" he whispered, standing there in his uniform slacks and tank top with his hands protectively over the bulge in his crotch.

She just smiled and slipped her pants off and then her shirt. she unclasped her bra an stood bare in front of him. She was nervous, it felt like something she had never done before. "T-this okay?"

He took a shaky breath and smiled. "D-definitely okay." Hands trembling far more than he was comfortable with, he unfastened his slacks and slid them off before pulling off his tank top and leaving him in just his boxer-briefs with the now very noticeable bulge in the front. He paused when his hands reached the waistband of his shorts. "Is this... are you sure, Quinn? We don't have to..."

"I want too," she replied. "I promise you. I want this, I want you."

Glancing down shyly, he nodded and carefully slid his shorts over his member and off his body. He didn't have much hair on him, but what he did have was neatly groomed. His member wasn't incredibly huge, but not tiny either - a decent, slightly thick five and a half inches - but it canted tightly up towards his belly button in a proud arch. He blushed as he noticed her looking and covered it with his hands.

"I know it's not very big," he murmured, his cheeks dark as he looked away.

"It's sexy," She breathed. "I made you," she motioned to his erection, "without doing anything?"

"You kissed me," he offered with a shy shrug, "a-and let me touch you... and sat in my lap..." Just thinking about the feeling of her warm body nestled against him made his member twitch slightly in excitement. "I, um... can we get in the shower? It's a little cold out here..."

She giggled softly and slipped behind the glass door, leaning against the wall and waited for him. He stepped in carefully over the edge of the tub, his member swaying with the movement and drawing Quinn's attention as he reached out to support himself, no longer hiding himself. He caught her staring and blushed again.

"If," he swallowed past the thick feeling in his throat, "if you want to touch me... you can, angel..."

She slid closer and pressed her body against his. She pulled him into a kiss unlike any they had shared before. It was all teeth and tongue, wet bodies sliding against each other with nothing but water between them for the first time.

He gasped as he felt her stomach brushing against his sensitive member as she kissed him. After a moment, he pulled away, panting heavily. "Q-quinn... if you keep kissing me like that... I'm going to want to _be_ with you and," he shook his head, trying to regain control, "not without a condom... please..."

"Okay," she panted, her hands on his chest. "Can we do other things?"

He was trembling trying to keep control but he nodded. "Sure... just not... not sex. Not yet... not without protection... I won't do that to you."

"I know," she whispered and kissed his shoulder, her hand sliding down his body and tracing the length of his shaft.

"Quinn?" he gasped, leaning back against the wall. His eyes half closed at the feeling of someone else touching him. "Oh God..."

She kissed across his chest as she gripped him and started to gently stroke her hand up and down his member. "I-is this okay?"

He swallowed hard and nodded. "God yes," he gasped, giving a low moan when her thumb brushed over his head. "I... I'm going to come if you keep that up..."

"That's the idea," she whispered as she sped up her hand. She kissed his collarbone softly before leaning up to kiss his lips.

He panted almost breathlessly into the kiss. "C-can I... can I return the favor?" he panted out, feeling his balls tighten up in preparation of releasing.

She whimpered at the thought before nodding as she twisted her hand, the water allowing her to slide easily. "P-please."

The thought of being able to touch Quinn so intimately finally made him lose control. He gasped, jerking forward as his body released a thick spurt of fluid over Quinn's stomach and hand. He shuddered for a moment. "I... I'm sorry," he whispered, referring to the mess.

"It's okay," she leaned up and hugged him tightly. "I love you," she reminded him as they embraced.

"You're an angel," he whispered, kissing along her neck. "My angel... are you sure you want this?" He asked as his fingers traced over the swell of her hip, concerned about her even through the lethargy that followed his orgasm.

"Yes," she assured him, her arms sliding up around his neck. Her fingers scratched at his neck impatiently. "Please."

He laughed softly as he brought his hand down to cup her core. Biting his lip, he smiled nervously. "I, um... I don't really know what I'm doing," he admitted softly.

She whimpered and stood up on her tiptoes to give him better access. "Just..." she shuddered when his fumbling found her clit. "There..."

"Here?" he whispered, pushing her back to lean against the wall as his fingers massaged the hard node of her clit, water splashing over his back. "You... you don't need," he licked his lips, uncertain, "inside?"

"I-in a minute," she whimpered, her eyes falling closed. Her body was on fire from being touched by someone other than herself. From being touched by _him_.

He nodded, leaning down to kiss her as his fingers stroked through her folds. "God," he whispered, pulling away a little later, "you're so... _wet_. Did... is that because of..." he trailed off, not wanting to look foolish if it was because of the shower.

"Yes," she panted, "you did that." Her back arched, her body seeking him out. "Inside..."

He paused, the pad of one finger pressing just inside her entrance. "Are you sure?" he whispered, his breath hot against her neck from how close he was. "You... we... you don't have to, Quinn. Not if you don't want to..."

"I want to," Quinn whimpered, as she rolled her hips and let him slide inside. "F-fuck."

He caught his breath at feeling the wet heat of her core swallow his finger. "Quinn," he breathed, sliding in until his knuckles pressed into her body, his finger buried in her core. "Are... are you okay? Is this okay?"

"More... God, Jay..." She moaned, her hips rocking to get him to move inside her.

He nodded, biting his lip and watching her face with a sort of stunned awe as he began slowly moving in and out of her. "You're so tight," he whispered. "Just with my finger..." He sounded almost shocked. "Would... would I hurt you if I..." he bit his lip, worried about being with completely when the time came.

"Wouldn't hurt me," she panted, her nails clawing at his shoulders. "I have.. _fuck_ ," she mumbled when his palm hit her clit. "A toy your size."

"Really?" He murmured, carefully stroking along her walls. "Do you... do you want two?" he asked softly as he pumped her.

"Please, you feel so good." She whispered, reaching up to kiss him distractedly. "I'm so close."

He carefully worked a second finger into her tight channel, groaning softly as he felt her stretching to accommodate him. "God, woman," he rasped, panting against her skin as he stroked in and out of her, imagining how it would feel to be held inside her, "I love you so much."

"L-love you too." She gasped as she arched into him. "I... I'm," she panted out as she whimpered before shuddering in his arms with a gasp as she came.

He held her close against him, braced between his body and the wall as he continued to slowly push in and out of her. He was amazed to feel the heat and the ripples of her walls as she came, his fingers curling to explore them. "So amazing," he whispered, watching her face as his fingers explored her most intimate part. "So beautiful..."

Her face scrunched up in pleasure. "God... I won't be able to stop myself if you keep doing that," she mumbled against his chest.

"Who says you have to stop?" he asked, kissing her lips softly, his tongue stroking along her lower lip before sliding in to explore her mouth as he urged her to wrap her legs around his waist as he kept thrusting his fingers in and out of her core.

She lifted herself up against him and the wall, her body rocking into him and the feel of his renewed erection sliding along the cleft of her ass as she moved causing her to start shaking with pleasure as they kissed. Reaching behind him, he fumbled the shower off as it started to grow cold.

"Hold on to me," he mumbled against her lips as he pushed the door to the shower open and carried them out on trembling legs to the bed. He laid her down, moving to kiss a breast lovingly. "God," he breathed, his tongue slipping over a taut nipple, his voice thick with need, "I wish I had a condom right now..."

She writhed beneath him. "Jay..." She moaned, "Please, touch me." She arched her back as he caught her nipple through in his teeth.

He just groaned into her breast and pumped faster, his fingers sliding in and out of her with a wet slapping sound, his palm slapping her clit on each inward thrust. "I want to be in you," he panted. "I want to feel you stretching around my dick, Quinn... I want to watch you come undone under me when we're together for real for the first time." He tugged on her nipple with his teeth, twisting his wrist almost accidentally, making his fingertips slide over her g-spot.

Quinn gasped, as she reached in between them and slid her hand around him. "I... I want that too." she whimpered, "Fuck please. I want you in my mouth..."

"I," his eyes went wide as he realized what she was offering, "Quinn... I wouldn't be able to keep control..."

"You're so hard," she whispered, "please let me take care of it."

"I," he choked out, trying to hold back. "I'll hurt you if I'm on top," he whispered, scared it was true. "You... if you want to, you have to be in control..."

"Lay back," she whispered, rolling them to the side. She pushed him down onto the mattress and kissed over his heart. "You'd never hurt me." She said as she pressed kisses down his body.

He choked out a laugh as he watched her sit up over him. "I'm afraid I would if I was on top with you doing _that_. I," he swallowed hard as he watched her trailing her hands down towards where they were still joined by his fingers buried within her, "I don't ever want to hurt you..."

"Baby," she whispered, "you gotta take those out if you want this." She ran her fingers down his arm and slipped them around his wrist, giving a gentle tug.

He bit his lip, looking up at her with a shy grin. "But I like being in you," he teased, wiggling his fingers inside her. "Maybe... maybe you could come up here?" he suggested with a waggle of his brows.

She looked at him, confused. "What you you mean?" she asked as she ran her fingers over his length.

"Why don't you let me try," he trailed off, nodding towards where his fingers were still encased in her body. "Like you want to do to me? I mean... I shouldn't be the only one receiving that kind of pleasure, right?"

"Oh!" She blushed. "You.. you want to do that?" she asked nervously. "Oh.. okay."

"Only if you want me to," he whispered, sliding his fingers in and out of her a couple more times before removing them completely and bringing them to his lips to lick them clean. "Your taste... I don't have the words, Quinn."

She slid over. "I don't know how to do this," she admitted bashfully, "do you want me on top?"

He laughed softly. "I don't know any better than you do," he reminded her. "Stay on top and let's... let's figure it out together, okay?" He swallowed, helping her settle her hips over his face, "We can do this together, right?" Taking a breath, he leaned up slightly and carefully ran his tongue between her folds, groaning low in his throat at the taste, his cock twitching slightly in her hand.

"Oh my god." She whimpered, her head falling down against his stomach. "That feels amazing..."

"I think it's supposed to," he mumbled, his hands coming up to grip her ass and pull her tighter against his mouth as he sought out the sensitive nub she'd liked him rubbing in the shower with the tip of his tongue, his nose almost nestled against her ass as her thighs gripped his head.

She moaned again, her nails running against his thighs. She took the tip of his member into her mouth. She whimpered around his girth, running her tongue over the head.

"Fuck!" he gasped, jerking back from her for a moment to get used to the feeling of moist warmth surrounding him, barely controlling his hips from thrusting. "Oh God, Quinn," he hissed, eyes half closed and digging into her ass before he managed to resume his attention to her dripping core, burying his chin between her folds to pull her clit between his lips and sucking.

She moaned and slid the length inside her mouth and sucked gently. She was going slow, never having really done this before with anyone so she was trying to figure out what he would like. He trembled, his hands clenching and releasing on the mounds of her ass as he explored her folds with his tongue and sucked at her clit. He moaned as he worked his mouth against her, unable to keep his hips from bucking up towards her as he felt himself surrounded by her.

She pulled away and sucked at the tip, moaning around him as she rocked against his lips. He gasped into her swollen flesh, feeling his body tightening. Pulling away with his lips and lower jaw slicked with her arousal, he panted, his hips and thighs twitching as he fought against thrusting into her mouth and hand.

" _God_ , Quinn," he groaned, "I'm... I'm close. I'm going to come, angel..."

"Me... me too," she stammered before swallowing him again, her throat vibrated against him as she moaned with pleasure at his touch. Her body started to shake as she sucked hard at his cock.

He nodded, swallowing harshly before swirling his tongue around her entrance and pushing inside. He pulled her tight against him, sliding his tongue in and out of her, lapping at her walls and trying to drink down her essence. Every breath he managed to draw through his nose shook with how close he was but he fought to hold off his climax until Quinn was satisfied.

She gasped and climaxed around his tongue, her body shaking in pleasure as she gave into the sensation. As soon as he felt her walls clenching around him, he stopped trying to fight off his climax. He groaned into her body as his cock trembled and spat his cum into her mouth in a short series of bursts. Shaking as his body came out of its high, he gently lapped at Quinn's core, easing her down from her own orgasm and cleaning up the juices that had flowed from her body as they'd come together.

She swallowed and rolled off him lazily. "I think I'm broke," she mumbled, staring up at the ceiling with a dazed smile. "Too many orgasms."

He laughed exhaustedly, feeling proud of himself for managing to do that for his girlfriend, and reached for her. "Come here, angel. Let me hold you? I think a woman should be held after making someone feel like that."

She rolled around for a bit until she was face to face with him. She reached over and wiped his face with her sheet with a shy smile, "Messy," she whispered as she cleaned him off.

"I don't mind," he offered with a lopsided smirk. "Made me feel very accomplished to draw that kind of reaction from you," he murmured, pulling her into a kiss. Licking his lips when he pulled away, he smiled bemusedly, "I never thought I'd like to be able to taste myself on my lover's lips, but I think I like the way we taste together."

She giggled. "It used to gross me out," she admitted, "but after being with a woman for a long period of time you get used it it. I think I like it better with you though."

He yawned, wrapping an arm around her to cuddle her close. "I like _you_ ," he pointed out with a smirk, kissing her gently. "Can we stay like this?" he asked softly. "I'd like to hold you for a while before I have to go home."

"I think that should be perfect." She smiled, she snuggled into his arms.

He smiled, pulling the blanket over them and sighed softly, letting the sleepiness his orgasm always brought him wash over him. "Love you," he mumbled, kissing the top of her head as he drifted off.

Quinn rested her head over his heart and drifted off to the soft sound of thumping below her ear.


	20. Chapter 20

Rachel was sitting in her room at her desk working on her monthly finances when her phone rang. Curious, she got up and headed into the living room to pick it up, noticing Quinn's office number on the ID as she thumbed the answer icon. She was fairly certain that it was Quinn calling her, but there was no need to give up on propriety so close to the opening coming up next week.

"Rachel Berry's phone, Rachel speaking," she murmured, holding it against her ear.

* * *

"Hey," Quinn said as she leaned back in her chair. "What are you doing?" she asked as she flipped through her planner. "You getting ready for that premiere tonight?"

* * *

"Hello, Quinn. I'm fairly certain that's _next_ week," Rachel was fairly sure she was correct but a tiny hint of uncertainty entered her voice as she moved to check her planner. "It _is_ next week, right?"

"Jesus, is your assistant ruining your brain?" Quinn exclaimed. "I know I sent her to training but she shouldn't slack off..."

"This isn't Santana's fault!" Rachel exclaimed, shuffling through her papers. "I was paying bills for the month. Calm down, Quinn. Crap! It is tonight!" She hurried over to her closet. "I was certain it was next week! I don't have anything prepared!"

"Santana put your dress in the closet," Quinn said. "I'll send the makeup guy over with the car and your date."

"Oh thank you, Quinn, you're a lifesaver," she cried, flopping down on the bed. After a moment though, it sank in what Quinn had said. "Wait... date? What date?"

"You can't go stag," Quinn explained. "I have a date for you... He's nice, you know him, he's starring in that new play at the Berrymore. Ray Gomez?"

"Quinn, we've _discussed_ this." Rachel stood up and started pacing. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with a woman attending an event unaccompanied. This is 2018 for Barbra's sake! I am not a retiring flower who needs protecting! I don't need to be paraded about on the arm of some... some _man_ as if I'm incapable of fending for myself or, worse, am intended as little more than some piece of... of _decoration_ instead of the independent and intelligent woman I am!"

"Yes, Rachel," Quinn sighed, "I'm aware that you are quite the woman but it's a PR thing. Ray is the star of his show and you are the star of yours. You're going to go and see his new show with him - two breakout stars going to a new show to support their community. You're doing it."

"Do you have any idea the sort of detriment to the feminist movement you are causing by forcing me to attend not only with a man but a man I barely even know?" Rachel fumed. "And you _know_ how those vile gossip sites are! I'll be labelled as fucking him by the end of the night!"

"Would some good press kill you?" Quinn muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "Look, just go and have some fun. You haven't had any in forever."

"How is it good press to be sexually tied to someone I barely even know, Quinn?" She was frustrated and upset as she paced around the room. It felt entirely too much like cheating on Santana, even if it had been months and they still couldn't define what they were doing. "Why is it so important for me to go with him anyway? Why can't we both go stag?"

"Because his manager and I spoke and we think it's a good idea," Quinn replied. "Look, we need you to get some good press. I can't get you jobs if no one knows who you are so please just go and have a good time. There'll be cameras and wine."

"Oh, wonderful. So I can start rumors about being easy _and_ a drunk!" Rachel threw up her hands, despite there being no one there to see her. "I promised to go to this event! Why do I have to deal with you and _Ray Gomez's manager_ making decisions about _my_ personal life on top of it?!"

"Because you need to start doing public events with people who are _more famous_ to get noticed. I'm sorry, Rach. You don't need to date him or do anything... Just show up with him. It's not a big deal."

"Maybe for you it's not a big deal," she muttered, flopping back down on the bed. "You're not the one who's going to find herself suddenly listed as sleeping with _Ray Gomez_. And how nice to know you're pimping me out to _more famous_ people who are only just starting out. Couldn't find any lecherous old men to pawn me off on?"

"You know this is how it's done." Quinn sighed. "You know I don't want to do this to you, but Ray is in a bigger show and the press follows him around right now. He's a good guy and he won't be a cad to you."

"Yes, I _know_ how this _boys' club_ is run," Rachel huffed. "And I _know_ as a woman I can't be allowed to succeed without being on the arm of a man. But you don't _know_ Ray Gomez any more than _I_ do. You don't _know_ he won't be a cad. But most of all, I know you didn't _have_ to wait until _four hours before the stupid premiere_ to tell me that I'm not good enough to attend a movie's opening alone!"

"It's not that you're not good enough! You take a date to a movie premiere and we set one up for you since... look, I didn't tell you because you would have backed out... and I wanted Santana to be out of the picture to tell you, okay?"

Rachel frowned at the phone. "What does Santana have to do with any of this? Beyond the fact that she doubtlessly would agree with my distaste of being used to make someone else look better."

"No, we're using him to get you noticed more by the press. You're known on Broadway but it's not just that anymore. We need to get people interested... Rachel, you know this is part of the job," Quinn explained. "Look, I'm not dealing with you and Santana's crap. But if it's going to disrupt _my_ job and _your_ work... then we might have a problem."

"Santana and I don't have any _crap_ , Quinn." Her eyes narrowed as her fingers tightened on the phone. "I know this is part of the job but there's no reason I have to like it. But, Quinn," her voice hardened, "if _this_... if my being more exposed messes up my ability to have Brooklyn in my life, I will _never_ forgive you."

"Do you want to be an actress or a _mom_ , Rachel?" Quinn snapped. "I know you probably don't like me much right now, but I'm your manager. You need to listen to me unless you decided to stop wanting to go into film and television and make a name for yourself."

"You're right. I don't like you at all right now," she hissed into the phone. "Fine. I'll do this. And at the end of the day, please recall how you put PR above my getting to have people I care about with me when you're watching this stupid premiere at home with _Jay_." Hanging up the phone she threw it across the room sending it crashing into the wall with an angry yell.

* * *

"I'm doing this for your career," Quinn said softly as she put the phone down and worked on finishing setting up the night.

* * *

A week later found Rachel curled on her bed, staring blankly at the mid-morning light coming in the window. She didn't want to move. She hadn't seen Brooklyn or Santana since the inevitable papers came out linking her to Ray Gomez and she figured she probably deserved it.

On the bed by her hand was a glossy magazine with a lurid photo of her in what appeared to be a lip lock with Mr Gomez. It didn't show how she'd shoved him away immediately after and angrily stormed off with him following. Her phone hadn't rang since she'd replaced it except for Quinn's number, but she was still mad at her and just disconnected each time. The only time she'd interacted with her friend - former friend? She wasn't sure yet - was when she'd been cornered at the theater to sign off on a contract Quinn had drawn up regarding her role as romantic lead opposite Ray in an upcoming movie.

She scoffed and shook her head. No wonder the date angle had been pushed so hard. Of course. It made perfect sense now. Sell her to get good ratings for a _movie_ that wasn't even being shot yet.

When the phone rang, she scrambled for it the same as she had each time it rang this past week. But the ID on her phone just showed a local area code number that she didn't recognize. Confused, she thumbed it on and pressed it to her ear.

"This is Rachel Berry's phone. Rachel speaking," she murmured. "Can I help you?"

"Hi, Ms Berry?" The woman on the other end of the phone said, "My name is Mrs. Chen, I'm the nurse at the school your goddaughter Brooklyn Lopez goes too?"

"Goddaughter?" She blinked in confusion. "I'm Jewish. I can't be anyone's godmother. It's a Christian thing. But, yes, yes. Is Brooklyn okay?"

"Oh. Her mother changed her emergency contact sheet a few weeks back," The nurse said confusedly, the sound of papers rustling coming over the line. "I need to get a hold of Mrs. Lopez and I can't seem to reach her."

"Oh. I'm," she thought for a moment, "her aunt. I'm adopted, so Santana probably just checked the wrong box. What's wrong though? Santana's in training for work all week. Is something wrong with Brooklyn?"

"Well, your _niece_ is not feeling well. She has a fever which means someone needs to take her home," Mrs. Chen explained. "Can you locate her mother?"

"Probably not for another few hours, though I can certainly try." She started moving to get properly dressed. "However I can be there in twenty minutes - thirty if traffic's bad. If you check, you'll find I'm on the list of people authorized to pick her up."

After a moment of quiet, and what sounded like Brooklyn demanding Rachel in the background Mrs. Chen came back. "Okay, she will be in the nurse's office which is right by the main office."

"I'll be there shortly," she replied, thumbing the phone off and quickly throwing clothes on before grabbing her keys and running out the door.

* * *

"Brooklyn?" Rachel called softly twenty three minutes later, knocking on the door to the nurse's office. "Are you here?"

The middle aged woman looked up from her paperwork and smiled. "You must be Ms. Berry," she said as she stood up and walked over to the smaller woman. "Yvonne Chen."

Rachel held out her hand to shake the older woman's. "Yes. Rachel Berry. Pleased to meet you. Is she okay?"

"There is a bug going around the school. A few of her classmates went home yesterday with the same thing. She has a headache and a low fever which means I have to send her home."

"That's terrible." She sighed, looking around for the girl. "I'll take care of her until her mother gets home though. Brooklyn?" she called again. "Is she napping?"

Yvonne pointed to the small ball under the blanket on the bed in the corner. "Do you need me to call you a cab?" she asked as she handed Rachel the sign out sheet.

"No, I've got one waiting," she replied absentmindedly as she signed. "Thank you though." Handing the clipboard back, she moved to crouch beside the bed Brooklyn was in. "Sweetie, Rachie's here. I'm going to take you home okay?" she whispered softly, pulling the blanket back.

"Mommy?" Brooklyn whispered as she rolled over an searched for someone's arms. "My head hurts."

Rachel pulled her into her arms. "Not Mommy, sweetie. Just Rachie. Let's take you home and have an ice pop, okay?"

Brooklyn nodded and snuggled into the woman. "Mommy home?"

"Not yet. Do you think you'll be okay with just me for a few hours?" she asked softly, standing and heading for the door with the girl cradled in her arms.

"Yes," Brooklyn whimpered before laying her head on Rachel's chest.

"Okay, sweetie." She smiled softly and kissing her warm head as she walked past Mrs Chen. "Thank you for taking care of her, Mrs. Chen. Her mother and I both appreciate it."

* * *

Brooklyn had been changed out of her uniform and into her black and purple pajama set and slippers. She sat on the couch leaning against a pillow with one arm wrapped around her teddy bear as she sucked on her popsicle. "Why does my head hurt?" she asked as she looked up at Rachel with her big brown eyes.

"I don't know, sweetie," Rachel responded honestly, coming in to sit down beside her and stroke her hair back. "I think it might be because you're a little too warm and it's making you feel icky though. Is it just your head that hurts?"

"My arms and legs feel funny, like they do when I'm in the pool." She pouted, her head lolling to the side on Rachel's shoulder.

She wrapped an arm around the little girl, cuddling her close. "Funny how? Like... wrinkly? Like when you've been in the water too long?"

"Like heavy." She sighed. "Didn't feel bad when mommy took me to school." She pouted unhappily, adding, "It was music day."

"We can have music day here," Rachel offered. "Maybe if your Mommy's not home in a couple hours and you're not feeling any worse, you can come with me to the theater if you promise to be good. How's that sound?"

"The place where I meeted you?" she asked moving to lay with her head in Rachel's lap.

"Mmhmm," she murmured, brushing her fingers through Brooklyn's hair. "You weren't feeling well that day either."

"I get sicks a lot." Brooklyn pouted, shaking her head. "I don't like."

"I don't think anyone likes getting sick, sweetie," Rachel teased her. "And your mom and I don't like you getting sick most of all. Is there anything I can do to make you feel a little better?"

"My mommy reads me the stories she writes," she said, "but they's at home." She cuddled her bear onto her chest and looked up. "Can you sing?"

She laughed softly, "Of course I can sing. That's what I do for work, you know. I sing and act. I didn't know your mommy wrote stories though. Are they any good?"

The little girl nodded. "She writes and draws me books. She also writes big people stuff but I can't read them." She pouted and sighed, she didn't like being sick without her mom. "Can you sing to me?"

"Maybe you can show me some of the books she made for you some time," Rachel murmured. "But of course I can sing to you. I love singing. What would you like me to sing? Do you have a favorite song?"

Brooklyn shook her head no. "Mommy sings that..." She got caught off guard with a sneeze before she finished her thought. "Can you sing your favorite song?"

She smirked. "You really want to hear _Don't Rain On My Parade_? Did your Mommy ever tell you we once won a very important contest where I got to sing that and then sing with her and all of our friends?"

She nodded. "Soft song?" Brooklyn asked as she took Rachel's hand. "Like the one you and mommy singed to me."

"Hmm," she murmured. "Maybe not that one then." She winked at her. "It's more for big stages. Don't tell your Mommy, but my daddies recorded all of our Glee club performances and I can ask them to mail me copies if you want to see your mommy singing with me some day," she added as she thought about a good song to sing a sick little girl.

"I wants to see." She smiled, tired but a little excited at getting to see her mom when she was younger. "You should have a little baby so I can be its friend," Brooklyn mumbled. "I don't like my friends..."

"Maybe someday," Rachel said, smiled lightly. "Why don't you like your friends?"

"They mean." She cuddled into Rachel. "Mommy said they just jealous."

"How are they mean?" she asked softly.

Brooklyn sniffle and crawled into her lap, needing the comfort. "Can you sing? Please?"

"Sure," she whispered, kissing the top of her head and wrapping her arms about her before beginning to softly sing _Lillie_ by Lisa Hannigan for the distressed little girl. The gently melancholy song being the first thing she could think of that met Brooklyn's _soft_ criteria.

The sick child just clung to Rachel and sniffled. She wanted her mom. She had never been sick without her. Tears that were a mixture of sadness, fever and distress rolled down her cheeks.

Rachel finished the song and cuddled Brooklyn to her chest. "Don't cry, sweetie. I know you want your mom and I know she wants to be here with you too, but I promise I'll take care of you. I promise, okay? Do you want to take a cool bath? Maybe it'll help with your headache. You can have bubbles if you want."

"Okay," Brooklyn whimpered. "Mommy won't forget me? Because she work now, she won't forget?"

"She could never forget you, Brooklyn," she murmured, getting a grip on the girl and heading into the bathroom to run a cool bath with bubbles. "Just like I could never forget you. We both love you very much, sweetie."

"She's always here," she sniffled. "She knows how to make me not sick." She looked down, almost like she was lost without Santana.

"I wish I knew how to make you not sick too," she sighed, helping get her out of her pajamas so she could climb in the tub. "I'm not a very good stand-in for your mom, I guess."

"Love you too," Brooklyn said as she climbed in, sitting down and listlessly ran her hand through the bubbles.

"I love you too," Rachel leaned over and kissed the top of her head before picking up a cup and pouring a little of the lukewarm water over her shoulders. "Do you want a duckie to play with?"

"No, thank you," Brooklyn said as she rubbed her eyes. "Can I sleep at your work?"

"Sure you can. We'll even bring your favorite blanket and you've napped on the couch in my dressing room before, remember?" Rachel smiled at her, continuing to sluice water over her hot little body to cool it off. "And your mom checks in with me to see if I need anything before getting ready to pick you up from school, so she'll come to the theater first and we can tell her to turn her phone back on, right?"

"She'd be scared if I'm not there or with Ms. Rita." Brooklyn said and she leaned into the water. "Can I bring my bear? And wear my jammies?"

"Definitely on both accounts and you'll be with me, so she'll know you're safe." She sluiced a little of the cool water over Brooklyn's head, being careful not to pour it in her eyes. "Because I'd die before I let anything happen to you, sweetheart."

Brooklyn smiled weakly. "Wish mommy and I could stay with you forever."

Rachel's breath caught slightly but she just smiled and nodded. "I wish that too, Brooklyn. I wish I could spend the rest of my life with you and your mommy. You're my best friends you know. You're my family," she pointed out, adding a moment later, "like Quinn is."

"Then you no go away," she said. "We happy with you."

"As long as your mommy wants me around, I'll be right here. Promise." She smiled at her. "You feeling any better with your bath?"

"Sleepy," she said. "Can I have ginger ale?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. "Mommy let's me have it when I'm sick."

She thought about it for a moment. "Okay, but just a little. Then we'll take a nap before going to the theater okay?"

Brooklyn nodded and rubbed her nose after a large sneeze. "Ouch."

"I think someone needs a tissue and maybe a Chilly Bear to snuggle with. Lucky for you, mine's been hiding in my freezer cause I like cold when my head hurts. So, let's get you dressed and snuggled in bed while I get Mr Chilly and set my alarm so we can nap. Sound good?"

"Kay," Brooklyn said as she stood up and lifted her arms for Rachel to pick her up.

She grabbed a towel off the rack and wrapped it around Brooklyn, pulling her out of the tub before unstopping the drain. "Maybe you'll feel better after a nap?" she suggested, toweling her dry before grabbing her clothes and heading into the bedroom to set her on the bed. "Okay, get dressed and I'll be right back with Mr Chilly to cuddle you. Alright?"

Brooklyn got dressed slowly and then crawled into the bed. She flopped down on the covers and pouted when she rolled around and couldn't find a spot that smelled like her mom's perfume like she normally did when they slept over.

"You okay, sweetie?" Rachel asked softly, coming back into the room with a red Chilly Bear and her phone. Setting the phone on the nightstand and handing Brooklyn the bear, she reached down and stroked her hair. "Do you need something?"

"Your bed don't smell like mommy anymore," she whispered. "I don't like that."

"I don't like it either," Rachel murmured, moving to her closet. "You two haven't stayed with me recently. I've missed you." She pulled a sweater out of her closet and smelled it, smiling when her nose caught the scent of her lover's perfume. "Here we go." She pulled the sweater on then crawled into bed. "How's that?"

Brooklyn smiled. "Better," she said as she cuddled into Rachel. "Mommy's bed smells like you, I like it."

Rachel smiled softly, holding the girl close. "Even now? I haven't been there in over a week."

"She has a pillow and it smells like your hair." Brooklyn shrugged. "I like when you there, makes mommy happy."

"I like making your mommy happy," she murmured, brushing her fingers through Brooklyn's hair. "Seeing her smile makes me happy. Being with the two of you makes me happy."

"Do you love Mommy?" she asked, her voice lazy with exhaustion.

She nodded slowly, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "More than anything," she whispered, listening to the little girl's breath start evening out.

Brooklyn cuddled up to the cold bear and Rachel, her fever addled body submitting to the lure of sleep.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Brooklyn seemed to be feeling a little better, so they bundled her up with proper shoes and a jacket and headed out the door with a bag full of coloring books, crayons, a neatly folded blanket, her monkey cup, and a bottle of Pedialyte they picked up on the way to the theater. Getting the sick little girl settled on her dressing room couch took a little longer, but it reassured Rachel to be able to duck in and check on her whenever she got off stage. That afternoon's performance was one of the more hectic between running - occasionally literally - between the stage and her dressing room, but even with asking Jimmy to keep an eye on the room and get her if Brooklyn needed anything, she felt better being able to see she was okay for herself.

Brooklyn laid on the couch, her body wrapped in her blanket and her head propped up on a pillow as she watched _The Jungle Book_ on Rachel's laptop. She had been dozing on and off the last half of Rachel's show.

Santana came in the dressing room, not aware of her daughter's presence until she heard a faint, "Hi, Mommy." Her head snapped around and she ran to her daughter's side.

"Baby? Why are you here? Are you okay," she asked as she pressed a kiss to her head. "Oh, baby," she cooed as she realized that she had a fever, "you're burning up."

"I don't feel good, Mommy." Brooklyn pouted, reaching up for a hug. "Mrs Chen tried to call you but you didn't answer. Rachie came and got me but I missed you, Mommy."

"I'm so sorry," she said as she pulled her daughter in her arms. "I'm so sorry, baby. Mommy should have had her phone on. Baby, what can I do? Can I make you feel better?"

"Hugs," she whimpered. "Rachie don't know how to make me not sick, Mommy."

"I know, baby," she whispered and bundled her daughter up like a baby. "Make you my baby burrito like when you were little first, right?" Santana smiled as she wrapped her up and cradled her. "Then hold you next to my heart so you know mommy loves you and will make you better."

"Uh-huh." She nodded, snuggling in against her mom with a soft sigh. "Rachie doesn't know how. Love you, Mommy."

They had a few minutes snuggled together in the relative peace of Rachel's dressing room before the owner of the room came back after the final curtain. "Brooklyn?" she called softly, slipping into the room, unaware Santana was there. "How are you feeling, sweetie?"

Santana looked up, obviously distressed and upset. "She's fine. I'm here now," she said as she rocked her daughter back and forth.

"Oh my gosh!" Rachel pulled off the outer layer of her costume and tossed it over the back of her chair before hurrying over. "You're here! Thank Barbara. Are you okay? We couldn't get in touch with you at all and I was beginning to fear the worst when you weren't here by the intermission."

"Quinn sent me to that stupid fucking training when I should have been here with my daughter," she said in a angry whisper, trying not to wake the sleeping little girl in her arms. "I should have been here to pick her up. My daughter is sick."

"Yes, I'm aware." Rachel stood up and started pulling off the last of the costume so she could change into her yoga pants and t-shirt to head home. "But I picked her up and made sure she had fluids and got cooled down. If you hadn't been back by now, I would have told them to use Jan in tonight's performance and taken her to the children's clinic to get checked out."

"You can't take her to the children's clinic, you don't know her insurance... or her doctor or her medical needs!" Santana snapped.

Rachel jerked, taken aback by the harsh tone. "Forgive me for trying to take care of a child I happen to love, Santana! Perhaps I'm not perfect, but I was doing my best!"

Santana rocked her daughter, obviously shaken that she hadn't been able to pick her up and didn't even know she was sick. "I'm her mom," she said softly. "It should be me picking her up and making her better."

"Well, this time you weren't able to, but I was." She shrugged, not thinking it was a major problem. "She was safe with me and I simply took care of her until you could get here. I know you're her mom, Santana."

"It's my _job,_ " she said, "not... not this. Not going to training... not doing all of Quinn shit!" she exclaimed. " _Brooklyn_ is my job."

"And how are you going to take care of her _without_ a _paying_ job?" Rachel raised a brow. "She just caught a cold. It happens to children, Santana. Even I know that. And I was more than happy to be able to be there for her while you were unavailable, just like her sitter does only I could watch her while she was sick. It's not a big deal, Santana."

"She's sick," Santana said as she pressed kisses to her daughter's head, "and I wasn't there. I'm taking her home. She shouldn't be here when she's sick." She stood up carefully with the little one and grabbed her bag. "I need to take her home."

"Do you need any help?" Rachel asked softly, already prepared to tell the director to call the understudy for her part to cover the evening show.

"You have your _job,_ " Santana said. "You should do it... I can do mine."

Rachel froze, stung by the barb in Santana's voice. "I know I do. I... I was just offering to help the people I lo...care about..."

"I know," she whispered, looking away, distressed. "I... I need to focus on her. I haven't been... I've been focusing on everything _else_. I need to focus on her."

"Oh," she whispered, her shoulders slumping as she smiled sadly. "I suppose I'd just be a distraction then. Will," she took a breath, not enjoying how she was feeling, but deciding not to focus on it too closely, "will I see you next week then? Monday maybe?"

Santana blinked away the tears. "I... I told you I wouldn't be able to do this," she whispered regretfully. "I... I'll see you on Monday." She sniffled and shifted her daughter higher up in her arms.

"I'm not asking for the world, Santana." Rachel looked up, smiling sadly. "All I want is to know you care about me. I've missed you. Brooklyn too. I'll... I'll give up the rest if it means you'll still be my friend..."

"I've been forgetting my daughter." Santana sighed, shaking her head. "She's the most important thing in the world."

"I know that." She shrugged helplessly. "Look, if," she swallowed, not wanting to offer, but seeing no other choice, "if you want to stop what we're doing... I'll understand. Just, please... don't stop being my friend too. Quinn's pushing me in front of the media more and," she shook her head, "I really don't want to lose my friends, Santana..."

"More... more media?" she asked nervously. "You... you know that I can't do that," she whispered and looked at Brooklyn's sleeping face. "I can't do that... but you know that you need to do it for your career."

"I know," she whispered, her entire body seeming to slump for a moment, thinking she was losing not only her almost-but-not-quite girlfriend but also her friendship with the little family and feeling sick. "I... I understand." She laughed sadly, dropping down in her chair. "I told Quinn this would happen but she insisted. It's okay, Santana. You have to do what's right for your child."

"I'm still your assistant and your friend," she whispered, barely able to look at the dejected form of the woman she'd been growing ever closer to and now was ending things with. "You're kinda the other part of my world and I can't lose you," she sniffled, "but you know that I can't risk my daughter."

"I know." Rachel bit her lip, shrugging and looking down at the ground, fingers playing listlessly with the string of her yoga pants. "I know you can't. I understand. It," she took a breath, trying not to break down, but her voice was soft, "it was bound to happen eventually, I guess..."

"I'm sorry," Santana whispered, leaning forward and pressing her lips to Rachel's. "Please don't be upset."

"How can I be upset?" She did her best to smile as Santana pulled away. "You're keeping Brooklyn safe. I don't have any right to be upset faced with that." She turned away to keep the tears that kept threatening the more she looked at Santana and Brooklyn from spilling. "I guess you should go take care of your daughter now," she whispered, doing her best to keep her breaking heart from coloring her voice. "Take as much time as you need. I think I can handle my schedule on my own for a few days if you need the time."

"I'm sorry," Santana whimpered, watching Rachel seeming to get smaller as she pulled away. "Thank you for looking after her when I couldn't..." She took a breath as if to say something else, but in the end shook her head and carried her daughter out of the room to head back to their apartment without another word.

Finally alone, Rachel let the tears she'd been holding back out. Her arms wrapped around her stomach as she doubled over, sobbing nearly silently against the empty feeling in her chest. They'd been all she had now that Quinn was wrapped up with Jay but she gave them up to keep Brooklyn safe.

She did it because she loved them, but it still hurt worse than anything she'd done before.


	21. Chapter 21

"Rachel," Quinn glanced up as the young woman slipped into her office, "thanks for coming. This is John Palmer." She nodded at the earnest looking young man in a three piece suit standing from the chair he'd been sitting in. "He's the studio rep for the film we've got you in line as the female lead for."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr Palmer," Rachel murmured, shaking his hand and taking a seat. She'd been subdued since Santana had broken things off with her and Quinn didn't like it but didn't know what to do about it either.

"The pleasure's mind, Ms Berry." He smiled charmingly, smoothing his jacket down as he took his seat again. "I asked Ms Fabray here to set up this meeting to discuss some... troubling rumors that have come up about you."

"Rumors?" she asked curiously.

"Yes. Personally, I'm sure they're just the mindless babbling of a few gossipers," he smiled at her reassuringly, "but my studio is very family oriented and well, we do have to be careful."

Quinn looked down at her papers, she knew that she and Rachel hadn't been _discrete_ about their relationship when they were together. She also knew that she looked like a hypocrite for allowing this to happen.

Rachel smiled confusedly. "I'm afraid I don't understand, Mr. Palmer. If you'd care to elaborate?"

He smirked, crossing his legs and folding his hands on his lap. "There's been foolish rumors that you've been, well... _involved_ with women in the past. As I'm sure you understand, this isn't something that makes my studio very happy. We're a family-oriented company with very traditional values and our stars need to reflect that."

Her eyes narrowed as she began to catch on. "So... you're saying that if I was romantically linked to a woman - if I were a _lesbian_ , I suppose you're saying - I wouldn't be able to work for your studio?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it _quite_ like that." He chuckled briefly. "You'd still be able to work for us. We don't discriminate after all. We simply wouldn't be able to find the money to produce and distribute a film with you as the romantic lead. At least, certainly not a _romance_ film." He smirked, laughing as if she'd follow along. "After all, what would people say seeing a openly gay woman attempting to play a straight woman in a romantic relationship with a man?"

"They'd _say_ she's an amazing actor," Rachel snapped. "What is this about?"

"About? Ms Berry! Rachel, can I call you Rachel?" He didn't wait for an answer before grinning and continuing on, "Thanks, call me John, please. Rachel, what this is _about_ is simple. You make us look good, and we put your name on the top of our posters. All you need to do is... diffuse these rumors."

"So... you want me to deny them?"

"Deny them? God no. That would just make them more believable." He shrugged, smoothing his tie down. "We want you to show them to be obviously false. Cultivate your relationship with your co-star. Let the cameras see how into him you are. The two of you have obvious chemistry after all."

"So," she glanced at Quinn almost accusingly, "you want me to _date_ Ray Gomez. Is that it?"

"I knew you were smart when I first saw you," he smirked at her.

Quinn looked down, she clutched the pen in her hand. "I just don't understand why she needs to 'date' him... That stuff doesn't work, it just makes the media tear them apart. I don't want Rachel's first feature film to be tainted."

" _Tainted_?" He looked surprised. "Nonsense! The media _loves_ a good romance. _especially_ between romantic co-stars. After all, you know passion off the screen is passion _on_ the screen." He grinned, looking between Rachel and Quinn. "Don't look like I kicked your puppies, alright? You're getting to be paraded about on the arm of one of Hollywood's up and coming most eligible bachelors, Rachel. You know that'll make you look good. Girls everywhere will be dying to be in your shoes."

"Yes, because I need a man in my life," she seemed to agree, speaking mildly as she leaned back in her chair, "to give me credence as a major actor. Like Katie Holmes?"

"Exactly," he smirked at Rachel. "Smart girl, you've got here, Quinn."

"She didn't say that as a compliment," Quinn muttered. "Look, what if I don't want my client doing this? She's busy on stage and seldom does anything but work on her hit show."

He smiled at Quinn as if it was obvious. "Then we'll find an actress who can be the star we need. We're not asking that she releases a sex tape or anything with the man." He laughed, glancing at Rachel with a smirk as if he were joking, "Though if you want to leak one, the press would be amazing. Lots of women becoming famous through sex tapes you know. The Kardashians. Paris Hilton."

Rachel raised a brow and crossed her arms over her chest. "I thought you were a _family oriented_ studio, Mr Palmer."

"John, sweetheart, call me John." He smiled integrating, "And we _are_. But you've got to admit, nothing says you're straight like a sex tape with a man as handsome as Ray Gomez."

"Please stop sexually harassing my client," Quinn demanded. "So we're just saying a few coffee dates and maybe a dinner?" She sighed. "If that's all you want I can discuss it with Rachel and set up another meeting with his publicist and manager."

"What I _want_ , sweetheart," he smirked at Quinn, "is for your _client_ to stop playing house with that little friend of hers and start acting like a proper _hetero_ sexual star."

"Oh," Rachel murmured, "so my being friends with my assistant is the problem. I see." She nodded for a moment as if in thought, then shrugged. "That... won't be a problem any longer. I'll talk to Ray. We'll see."

"I knew you'd see things my way, Rachel." He grinned, reaching over to pat her knee before standing and straightening his jacket again. "Ladies, it's been a pleasure talking with you. I hope to have the pleasure again some day. You two have a wonderful day now." Giving them one last overly whitened smile, he nodded to first Quinn then Rachel and headed out the door.

Quinn sighed. "Fuck," she mumbled as she looked down at the paper. "Tell me now if you don't want to be in their movie. It's still early enough to get out without too much damage."

"It'd be bad for my career to bail on the project without a better cause than a slimy bigot of a representative," Rachel shrugged. "This is why I never went on dates the firm set up before, Quinn. But whatever. It's fine. I'm sure I can talk Ray into playing the part of my _boyfriend_ without too much trouble."

"I'm sorry this is part of your life," she said. "We knew it might happen sooner or later..."

"Please don't pity me, Quinn. You're not sorry. If you were, you never would have insisted on me going to the premiere as Ray's date in the first place." She shook her head, standing up. "This is my job. Looking pretty on a man's arm. You've made it very clear that it's necessary if I want to advance in my industry, so I'll do it. It's what you want, so why not."

"Is Santana going to be okay with this?" Quinn asked, as she realized that managing her best friend was going to ruin their relationship.

Rachel looked at her. "What does Santana have to do with anything? She's my assistant." She shrugged, lips tightening slightly. "That's it."

"Oh..." Quinn said, noticing an obvious change. "Did... did something happen? Santana... she told me that you guys... when we took her kid to the zoo."

"So you knew." She nodded her head slowly, feeling almost sick at the revelation. "You _knew_ and you still made me go on that _date_." Her jaw worked as she stared at the ground. "What did I do to you, Quinn? What did I do that made you want to mess up everything good in my life? You're finally happy with someone, so why can't I be?" She shook her head. "Whatever. Santana and I... whatever it was we had, it's done now. I don't even get to see Brooklyn any more because of the press. You get to go home to Jay. I get to go home to nothing. I hope you're happy. You've finally got the very career-minded Rachel Berry back. Enjoy it."

"Do you really want to spend the rest of your life hiding?" Quinn demanded, getting frustrated. "Do you really want to give up your dreams of getting a Tony? You know Santana well enough to know that she's never going to be ready." The blonde sighed and rubbed her face. "I love her like a sister, but she's scared and she always will be."

"Exactly how would being involved in a _successful_ Broadway production ruin my dreams of winning a Tony, Quinn?" Rachel asked pointedly. "What does my _personal_ life have to do with my ability to win an award in a field of the entertainment industry that is _famous_ for having homosexual people in it? And who _cares_ if we weren't telling the world as long as _we_ were happy?! We could have figured it out! But you had to push. You just _had_ to. Now I'm going to lie to _everyone_ about who I care about and pretend I have a romantic interest in a _gay man_ so I can be groped by him on the big screen for a _family oriented_ studio movie. And I don't even have the possibility of going home and spending time with Santana or Brooklyn after a day of all that any more."

"Think about it, Rachel." She narrowed her eyes. "You name me _one_ actress that is out. Name me one, Rachel." Quinn looked at her and sighed, "I'm sorry this is how it works. If Santana can't handle dealing with your career? She's not worth it."

"Amber Heard. Portia DeGeneres _and_ her wife. Sarah Paulson. Cynthia Nixon. Kelly McGillis." Rachel glared at Quinn. "I can name more. And the _term_ is _actor_. My title is _not_ determined based upon my _gender_ , Quinn. Actress is antiquated and sexist."

"I don't know who Amber Heard is, but Ellen and Portia? Ellen got fired for being gay and didn't work for _years_. She had it in her contract when her show started that she couldn't mention her homosexuality," Quinn pointed out. "Sarah Paulson gets no parts other than the funny sidekick because no one can believe she's straight since she came out and Cynthia Nixon and Kelly McGillis came out _after_ they had defined their careers." Quinn crossed her arms. "I don't like this either, but think about your career before you think with your heart."

"My heart? My _heart_ , Quinn?!" Rachel slapped her hand on Quinn's desk. "My _heart_ doesn't have any say in anything. My _heart_ doesn't _matter_. Don't you talk to _me_ about my _heart_ , Quinn. Sign the papers or whatever you have to do. I'll talk to Ray later. And while you're at it," she shook her head, "find me some place to live in LA while this movie is being shot. I don't feel like coming back to New York for a while."

"Don't you want to discuss that with your assistant?" Quinn asked softly. "Will you need space for her as well?"

"No. There's no need to disrupt Brooklyn's life any more." She turned away. "Besides she's always been more your assistant than mine. Just finish her training and make her your partner or whatever it is you've been grooming her for since you hired her. I'll be fine in LA on my own."

"Santana has asked to stop her training," Quinn told her, watching her carefully. "She doesn't wish to be a manager in her own right. So, I need to ask you... Do you no longer want your assistant?"

"Don't ask me _that_." The muscles in her jaw jumped as she tried to contain herself. "Fine. She can be my assistant _here_. I'm sure there's plenty that will have to be arranged and I suppose someone would need to take over my lease anyway," Rachel bit out. "I can't deal with this. I can't deal with knowing she's right _there_ and I'm not allowed to even touch her any more. We're barely friends any more and I can't _deal_ , Quinn. I need space."

"Yeah... she's pulled away from everyone, but so have you." Quinn sighed and looked at her books. "I'll put her on part time while you're away."

"She's salaried, Quinn," Rachel pointed out. "If the idiots here throw a fit, just take her pay out of my contracts. I'm not going to take her means of supporting herself and her daughter just because I can't handle being around her right now."

"I'm not going to let anything happen to Santana, I'll do what I can." She sighed as she rubbed her face. "So you're going to LA... I'll set everything up for you. Your last show will be in three weeks."

"That soon?" Rachel whispered. "Fine." She brought her gaze up to look at Quinn for the first time in the last few minutes. "You know... I was happy. I was happy doing Broadway and little movie and tv roles here and there and having... whatever it was with Santana. I was happy picking Brooklyn up after school when Santana was doing something for you and couldn't so she didn't have to go to a babysitter. I actually almost felt like I had a family for a little bit. I gave that up because you asked me to. So you take care of them. You owe me at least that much."

Turning she headed out of the office. Still a storm out, though less fiery than she used to pull in high school. The door thudded closed behind her, an anti-climatic end to her visit. Quinn dropped her head down to her desk, hating what this was doing to her friends.

And her friendships.

* * *

Santana was quiet.

She had been since Brooklyn had been sick and she and Rachel called off their romance. She had been working less and less with Rachel and her not really speaking. She had asked Quinn to remove her from training since she just didn't have time and she wasn't willing to work more hours and get into something that would take her away from Brooklyn even more. She stood in the kitchen distractedly washing the dishes as she tried to think of anything other than _Rachel_.

"Mommy?" Brooklyn called softly, wandering into the kitchen. "Why doesn't Rachie come over any more? I miss her and your bed doesn't smell like her no more."

"Anymore, it doesn't smell like her anymore," Santana corrected her. "She's busy with her job. Brooklyn, we've talked about this. Adults sometimes have to put work over their friends."

"But I don't ever see her no," she paused, consciously correcting herself, " _any_ more. Why can't we go see her? We used to visit with Rachie all the time, Mommy."

"She wasn't as busy then." Santana sighed, washing her hands and drying them. "She still loves you, you know that."

"But I miss her, Mommy," Brooklyn pouted, holding the Chilly Bear she'd gotten from Rachel when she was sick against her chest. "And I hafta give back Mr Chilly. How will she remember I love her if I don't tell her like I tell you?"

"She knows, Brooke." Santana sighed. "Baby, sometimes things happen and we can't control it."

Brooklyn pouted and looked worried. "Mommy, did I do something bad? Did I make Rachie stay away? I don't want her to stay away. I'll say sorry. I'll be good!"

"No, baby, you're perfect." She sighed. "It's mommy's fault, please don't worry about it. Would you like to play with playdough?"

"No! What'd you do to Rachie?" She was upset, sniffling. "Say you're sorry! Go say sorry and make Rachie come back! Why'd you make Rachie go 'way, Mommy?"

"Brooklyn, please understand when I say it's not forever. Rachel will be back, she just needs to focus on work right now."

Brooklyn's face crumpled up and she sniffed loudly as she tried not to cry. "But I want Rachie, Mommy. I don't see her ever anymore. I miss her. Make her come back..."

"I miss her too, but right now?" she said, squatting down and looking in her daughter's eyes hating that she was being hurt in all of this. "It's you and me again."

The little girl sniffled, trying to be brave. "I liked it better when Rachie was here," she whispered. "You smiled more. I like when you're happy, Mommy. Rachie makes you happy. Why can't she be with us?"

"I know," Santana said softly. "Right now it needs to me you and me again, I know it's hard but we're gonna have to be brave okay?"

"I think Rachie's sad too." She sniffed throwing her arms around her mom, needing the hug. "Rachie said she loves you, Mommy. Why can't you love her too? Then you could be like Aunt Q and Uncle Jay and be happy."

"Because," Santana breathed, hugging her daughter, "sometimes life's not like we want it to be." She kissed her shoulder. "But we're healthy, we have lots of food for our tummies and we have each other."

"It'd be better with Rachie," she mumbled, crying softly as she buried her face in her mom's neck.

Santana rubbed her back. "Don't cry," she whispered. "Please, baby."

Brooklyn sniffled mightily, trying to force back her tears. "Why can't Rachie be my mommy too, Mommy? I loves her..."

"Because I'm your mother," Santana said as she wiped the girl's eyes. "You are my special gift, remember?"

She sniffed and nodded. "I remember. But Rachie has two daddies. Why can't I have two mommies?"

"Maybe someday." She sighed. "But not right now. Not just because you want it."

"Don't be mean to Rachie no more, Mommy," she whispered, looking up trustingly. "Don't make her go away and not come back. Please?"

"She'll come back, she just needs to work for a bit. She loves you and she'll come back to see you."

"Promise?" she sniffed, wiping at her nose with her sleeve.

"Yeah... Mommy loves you and will be here for ever and ever, you know that right?" Santana said as she wiped her own tears away. "I'm always going to be here."

"Okay," she mumbled, pawing at her face. "Still miss Rachie though."

Santana nodded. "Me too," she whispered as she picked up her daughter and carried her into their bedroom and laid on the bed. She sang softly to her as she rubbed her daughter's back trying to comfort them both.


	22. Chapter 22

Rachel was nervous as she picked up the phone for the fourth time in the last fifteen minutes. She knew she couldn't keep putting it off. She needed to talk to her. _Before_ she left.

Finally she took a deep breath and hit the number one speed dial. Listening to it ring, she breathed slowly, calming herself. By the fifth ring, she had half convinced herself it was going to voicemail, so when she heard the slight tone of a connect, her breath caught slightly.

"H-hello?" That didn't sound very confident, she scolded herself mentally, clearing her throat. "I mean, hello? Santana?"

"Hello?" Santana's voice sounded tired and small. "Rachel, whats wrong? Do you need me today?" she asked. It was nearly noon and Brooklyn was taking a nap while Santana laid on the couch dejectedly.

Nearly every fiber of her being pleaded with her to say yes. That she needed her today, tomorrow and everyday after, but instead she just took a deep breath. "Not... exactly. The, um, the situation's changed and I need to talk to you... and Brooklyn. Can I come by after the matinee today? Jan's taking the evening."

"Oh... sure. Did I do something wrong? Am I getting fired?" She swallowed. "I know I stopped doing Q's thing, but... I can't get fired."

"No." She shook her head so hard it could practically be heard over the phone. "Not at all. I just... we need to adjust some of the parameters of your duties and I feel it's best to discuss that in person. It's something I did, not you. You've been," her voice rasped slightly and she cleared her throat, "you've been absolutely wonderful, I can assure you. You're not being fired, Santana. Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Okay... um, sure. Come over when you're done," she said softly. "Brooke's summer program isn't until next week so we're here."

"Great. I'll bring dinner if that's okay. Does Thai sound good? Or maybe pizza?" She was babbling, she knew she was, but now that she had the reassuring sound of Santana's voice on the other end, she didn't want to end the call.

"Um, Brooklyn had an allergic reaction to Thai a few days ago, so maybe something safe," Santana said tiredly. "Pizza is okay."

"She did? Oh no! I hope she's okay... what am I saying, of course she is. You wouldn't be talking to me if she wasn't. Pizza it is." She smiled at nothing as she talked. "I," she knew she shouldn't say it, but she couldn't help herself, "I've missed you, Santana. It'll be good to see you."

"It's been a busy couple weeks," Santana said. She wasn't lying. Between Brooklyn's growing frustration and resentment of Rachel not being around, Santana's growing insomnia, and the two days she spent with Brooklyn at the hospital after she ingested a pine nut, she felt like she was losing her grasp on life.

"You're not kidding." Rachel let a little of the exhaustion she was feeling show in her voice. "I feel like I haven't really slept in weeks. But... this is important and we need to talk about it. Face to face, not over the phone."

"Okay," Santana said, "I'm sure that will make her feel better, seeing you. She's still run down from the reaction."

"Is Mr Chilly helping any? She still has him right? You can freeze him for a cold bag or put him in the microwave for a minute for a hot one." She sounded worried. "Can I bring anything special to help cheer her up? I don't know if my news will or not..."

"Just you and a hug for her, she's getting spoiled enough." Santana sighed. "I'll leave the door unlocked, just come in when you get here."

"Okay. I'll see you in four or five hours depending on traffic then." She sounded wistful, like she didn't want to hang up. Behind her could be heard a faint "Ms. Berry, five minutes."

"Go work," Santana said. "Have a good show."

"Thanks. I'll see you soon. Take a nap, sweetheart," she murmured distractedly before hanging up and hurrying out to take her place to start the performance.

Santana flopped over and clutched the phone in her hands before closing her eyes and trying to catch some sleep that she didn't find the night before.

* * *

Four and a half hours later, Rachel carefully balanced two hot boxes and a bag of Daiya in her hands as she eased the door to Santana's apartment open. Closing it behind her, she slipped over to the kitchen to put it down before going to find Santana. Seeing her sleeping on the couch, she smiled sadly and moved to look for Brooklyn.

Brooklyn laid in her bed, one arm wrapped around the chilly bear and the other being used to follow along the words in one of her learn to read books.

Looking into the bedroom, Rachel smiled softly to see her reading. "Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling? Your mom said you were pretty sick."

"Rachie!" she exclaimed, sitting up and reaching out for a hug. "You came back! Mommy said you would! I missed you," she whispered as she hugged Rachel tightly. "I was in the hospital, Rachie."

"I'll always come back. And I heard you were in the hospital. I'm sorry I didn't come, sweetie." She tugged her into her lap as she sat down on the bed beside her. "I've been super busy with work because I'm starting a new project soon and I had to make sure my replacement in the show I'm with now is ready to take over. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes." Brooklyn nodded, sitting as close as she could to Rachel's body. "It was scary, my face swelled and I couldn't breathe." She looked sad and then back up to Rachel. "Mommy was scared, she hasn't sleeped since. I woke up and she sleeping on the couch so I got my book."

"Yeah, she's still sleeping so let's talk for a little okay? Unless you're hungry. I brought dinner cause I have important things I have to talk about with you and your mom."

"Not hungry," Brooklyn said. "I missed you, Rachie," she admitted as she ran her fingers over Rachel's hands. "Mommy's been sad... me too, but mommy really sad."

"I'm sorry I've been gone," Rachel murmured, kissing the top of her head. "I hate seeing you and your mommy sad and I've missed you both so much my heart cried it hurt so much."

"Why can't I be your little girl too?" Brooklyn asked, looking up at her. "Then you couldn't leave even if Mommy was mean to you."

"Your mommy wasn't mean to me," she explained softly. "I wish you were my little girl too, sweetie. And maybe someday you can be. But right now, your mommy and I have to work stuff out first. And I have a big project that's going to keep me even busier starting soon, so I need a huge favor from you and your mommy to help me out. That's why I came tonight. But also," she leaned in to whisper as if it was a big secret, "because I desperately needed hugs from the best little girl I know who just so happens to also be my sweetest friend. Do you know who that might be?"

Brooklyn smiled for a minute then held up the bear. "Chilly?" she asked with a crooked grin.

Rachel laughed. "No, silly, Mr Chilly's not a little girl!"

"Mmmm... Mommy?" she smiled again as she wiggled on Rachel's lap.

"I always love hugs from your mommy, but she's not little!" She grinned at Brooklyn. "She's bigger than me!"

"Me?" She beamed, wiggling happily. "Hugs from Brooke?"

"You know," she smiled lopsidedly, "I think that's it exactly." Wrapping her arms around the little girl she hugged her close, "I can never get enough of these hugs."

Santana heard her daughter's giggle piercing through her slumber. She slowly got up and stretched before going to the door. She watched them hugging and her daughter's face, her heart started to shatter all over again because of this decision she'd made.

Hearing movement, Rachel looked up and smiled softly before opening an arm to invite her into the hug. "Santana," she called softly, "don't stay out there. Please? It's just us..."

"I... You... spend some time with her," Santana choked out before slipping back and into the kitchen.

"Stay here, okay, sweetie?" Rachel kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to talk to your mom about adult stuff for a moment."

Getting up, she headed into the kitchen, seeing Santana standing against the counter with her arms wrapped around her waist trying not to cry. "Santana," she murmured, moving over until she was just in front of her. She'd made a decision on the way over that she knew Quinn would probably not approve of, but Quinn _had_ her happiness. It was time for Rachel to fight for her own. "Santana," she tried again, "I'm not giving up on us."

"You need to," she whimpered, "It's for the best... please don't make it harder... you didn't have to deal with a upset and _rejected_ feeling five year old for two weeks. She saw you on the tabloids, Rachel... She asked if that's why we stopped being a _family_. I can't hurt her anymore!"

"You should have brought her to me," Rachel insisted, reaching out to rest her hands gently on Santana's arms. "Because I will never stop thinking of both of you as my family. And those tabloids are awful. I warned Quinn that would happen." She shook her head. "It's just PR for the movie we're starting to shoot soon. It's what I came to talk to you and Brooklyn about."

"I'm protecting her," Santana exclaimed, "from getting hurt more! She _cried_ when she thought you had a new family after seeing you kissing him."

"What?" Rachel looked confused, shaking her head. "Santana, you do not understand what's going on here. Yes, the media is convinced that Ray Gomez and I are practically married, but it's _all_ PR because the studio is terrified of the truth coming out. Namely that both him _and_ I are currently romantically invested in members of the same gender."

Santana rubbed at her eyes. "I don't care if he's gay. My kid gets her heart broken when she sees her freaking _hero_ having fun with someone else."

"And _that's_ why you should have let me talk to her instead of just going on!" Rachel exclaimed. "I believe she understands that I'm an actor like in her tv shows. She _knows_ the difference between fantasy and reality even at her age. She'll understand even better when she sees the _movie_ Ray and I are playing the leads in! But she can't understand any of that if you sequester her away from me."

"We broke up," Santana said. "It doesn't entitle you to her. She needed to have space like we did."

"We'll have space, Santana. We'll have a _lot_ of space soon. But I'm not giving up on us." She looked as determined as she used to in high school. "I _want_ you in my life, Santana Lopez. I've wanted you since grade school and I want you even more now. I want you to be my girlfriend, even if the only people who know are Quinn, Jay, Brooklyn and my dads. Do you understand me? I'm not giving up. Not on you and not on us. Because _this_ is what I want. You and that little girl are what I want to come home to after I'm done acting."

"It's not that easy." Santana whispered, shaking her head. "Quinn doesn't want this to happen. It will ruin your career, Brooklyn will get more hurt then she already is, and... I'm not... Rachel, I wouldn't be a good girlfriend."

"I don't care," she spoke softly, watching Santana. "I don't care how good or bad a girlfriend you think you'd be, Santana. I don't care what Quinn wants or what will happen to my career. I want you. I _need_ you - _and_ your daughter - in my life to be happy. My career doesn't matter if I'm not _happy_ , can't you understand that?" Her hands had started gently stroking up and down Santana's arms. "I know we can't just go back to how things were, but I don't want to give up on us. I'm _not_ giving up on us."

Santana whimpered. "I'm... scared." She looked down at Rachel's hands. "I don't know if I can handle doing all of this. It got to be too much... I don't want to be anyone's manager. I just want to work with you..."

"Then do that." Rachel smiled softly. "I love having you work with me and you practically _are_ my manager... besides, I know you never would have forced me to go on a date to _promote my image_ like Quinn did." Her hands slid down to Santana's, slipping their fingers together. "I trust you, Santana. And... I'm willing to go as slow as you want. You're not the only one scared, sweetheart."

She nodded. "How do we handle Brooklyn?" she whispered, silently accepting Rachel's proposition.

She took a breath and let it out slowly. "We can wait if you want. The news I have is... it's big, Santana. Let's make sure we can get through this before we risk rocking her world, but no more keeping her away from me, please? Or... not telling me when she's in the hospital. You know I would have dropped everything to come if you'd just told me."

"I... I know." Santana sniffled. "It was just so fucking scary. She was hooked up to machines and looked so little... I was scared."

"That's why you should have called." Rachel pulled Santana into a hug, holding her close for the first time in weeks. "You should have let me be there for you. For both of you."

Santana inhaled Rachel's shampoo scent as they hugged. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," she admitted softly. "So... are we okay? Think we can cuddle with our favorite girl for a little bit before eating and my big news?"

"Yay! Cuddles!" Brooklyn exclaimed, before squeaking and scurrying off to her mom's bed.

"Little sneak." Santana smiled. "Let's go cuddle her."

Rachel blushed, but smiled as she headed back to the bedroom with Santana. "I wonder how much of all of that she heard..."

"She's my kid... She's heard it all." Santana rolled her eyes and sighed. She headed into the bedroom and looked at her daughter who wore a Cheshire grin. "You are a naughty girl. Eavesdropping?"

"You and Rachie gonna be boyfriend and girlfriends now?" She grinned up at her mom, delighted by the prospect. "Like Auntie Q and Uncle Jay?"

"Not exactly." Rachel rolled her eyes and shook her head with a knowing smirk. "Well, Santana?" she asked softly. "What do you want to tell her?"

"Don't ask questions?" She smiled before crawling into bed with her daughter.

"You're trouble, Santana Lopez." Rachel chuckled, crawling in on the other side of the gleeful little girl snuggling down between them with a happy sigh.

"I like when my Rachie and mommy are cuddling me," she said, happily nestled between them.

Santana smiled and kissed her daughter's head. "We like to cuddle you." She smiled as she looked over at Rachel.

"Definitely," Rachel nodded. "It's quite possibly one of my favorite activities of all time. I need to store up Brooklyn cuddles and hugs for when I'm busy so I can make it through."

"Yeah." Santana sighed.

"Why you so busy, Rachie?"

Rachel took a deep breath - she'd wanted to wait for dinner, but this was as good a time as any. "Because I'm going to be starting work on a movie soon. I'm going to have to stop working on my show I'll be so busy."

"Oh," Brooklyn sighed, "but you still see us?"

"Not for a while," she whispered, sadly. "I have to go on a long trip to make the movie. I'll be gone for a while." She looked over at Santana, asking her to understand, "That's part of the big favor I need to ask your mom."

"How long?" Brooklyn asked as she rested her head on Rachel's chest. "How long till we sees you?"

"Brooklyn, don't pester please," Santana said softly. "Rach? What can I do for you?"

"She's not pestering me," Rachel murmured, brushing a hand over the little girl's hair. "It'll be at least a few months before I'll be done. Maybe as long as a year." She looked back up at Santana, biting her lip. "I don't want to disrupt Brooklyn's schooling any more than I have to, so I requested to let you stay here in New York. What I wanted to know," she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "was if you'll move into my apartment while I'm gone? I just want to change your immediate assisting me tasks into more or less housesitting so that you wont lose any benefits and Brooklyn's school is closer to my building as are her friends..."

"I like Rachie's house!" Brooklyn said, as she looked over to Santana.

"Rachel..." Santana sighed. "I.. I don't know. It's a lot of money to keep up this apartment when we're at yours..." She rubbed her eyes, "Quinn's not going to keep me on as a housesitter..."

"Quinn is going to keep you on at least part-time as an assistant with her firm while Brooklyn's at school and the rest of your salary was negotiated as part of my contract for this film. You're not taking a pay cut to do this for me, Santana. And," she smiled lopsidedly, "it's the only way I can keep the apartment. My lease says it has to be tenanted year round. You and Brooklyn are the only people I'd trust enough to sublet to."

Santana took a breath, having a hard time being okay with uprooting her daughter. "I... I don't know."

"Santana," Rachel pleaded, "please... if it's easier, give up this place and... and I'll help you find a place in my building or near by when I come back. There's room for Brooklyn's bed and you can reorganize things however you want. I'll even talk Quinn into adjusting your salary to include a food budget. I just," she licked her lips, "I really want to know I have somewhere to come home to..."

"I know... But this is our _home_ ," Santana said. "I can't just uproot her."

"You... you don't have to give it up. I'll," Rachel swallowed, biting her lip, "I'll pay the rent. But, Santana, you've always said this is a hellhole..." She trailed off, not wanting to admit that she just wanted Santana and Brooklyn to be part of the picture when she thought of her home while in LA.

Santana bit her lip and sighed. "Okay..." She whispered, "I'll talk to Brooklyn and see if it will it will work. You know how much I like change," she joked.

"Not at all?" Rachel smirked. "Right, Brooklyn?"

"Uh-huh. Mommy likes things to go the way they're 'possed to." Brooklyn smiled up at her, then sobered. "But I don't want you to go, Rachie. Where you going?"

"LA," Rachel smiled sadly. "Like when all three of us flew out there last year. Do you remember?"

"Yes!" Brooklyn smiled. "It was sunny and I gots to swim." She thought for a moment. "Can we just comes with you?"

"No, you have school, sweetie," Rachel reminded her. "It's not like last time. I have to be there a lot longer this time. But," she glanced at Santana hopefully, "maybe your mommy and I can figure out a way that you and her can come visit me before I come home?"

"But... it's summer." She pouted. "I just have camp. Can we come for the summer?"

"No, Brooklyn, we can't go with Rachel," Santana said sternly. "But maybe we can go visit her, okay?"

Brooklyn pouted. Rachel leaned in to kiss her head. "Don't forget you have your special school this summer. Aren't you learning an instrument? What was it again?"

"I learn violin." She smiled. "I wanted to learn to play guitar but my hands are small." She pouted. "I likes though."

"I like guitar too but I never learned to play." She smiled down at Brooklyn, combing her fingers gently through her hair. "I play piano though. Maybe if you practice hard with the violin, we can play together some time, hmm?"

"Okay!" Brooklyn said, cheered by the idea. "Can we eat now? Rachie, can you stay tonight? Can you stay with me and mommy before you have to leave?"

"That depends on your mommy, sweetheart," Rachel murmured, looking over at Santana. "I have to leave next week," she whispered softly.

"Stay," Santana whispered. "She's still not feeling good and you'll make her feel better."

Rachel nodded slowly. "I'll stay." She smiled wistfully at Santana. "But where should I sleep?"

"With me and mommy, duh!" Brooklyn exclaimed, as she sat up.

"No, with Brooklyn. Mommy will sleep in your bed," she said, knowing that they weren't okay to pick everything up where they left off.

"Your mom's right," Rachel chided gently when Brooklyn started pouting. "You're going to miss me the most so you should get the most cuddles. Right?"

"I will miss you most. Mommy is a cranky pants." She pouted as she clambered over her mother to get off the bed. "I go pee then we have dinner?"

"Okay. Your mom and I will go get the plates ready," she smiled, getting up with a stretch before helping the little girl down off the bed. "Off you go, now. Be sure to wash your hands after!"

Brooklyn scampered away and Santana just looked over at the other woman. "Hey," she whispered softly as she looked up. "I missed this."

Rachel offered her a soft smile before holding out her hand to help her up. "I did too. I'm going to miss it even more while I'm in LA... but I like being able to think of you and Brooklyn in my home. It'll make it easier. Thank you for agreeing."

"There are a lot of things we need to figure out," Santana said as she stood up and squeezed Rachel's hands. She looked like she was contemplating kissing her for a moment before she looked down and headed into the kitchen.

"Yes, but we'll figure it out." Rachel followed her in quietly and started preparing. "Santana," she looked shy, "thank you. For... for giving me another chance?"

"Thank you for not letting me run away," she said with a shy look.

She snorted softly, coming over to lean up and kiss Santana on the cheek. "As if I've ever given up on something I really want, Santana. You're lucky you didn't start dating someone else," she teased, "I might have sent them to an _active_ crackhouse."

Santana smiled. "You're kinda a freak." She said as she put pizza on Brooklyn's plate. "She's so excited you're here."

"I'm excited to see her." Rachel laughed. "You have no idea how lonely my apartment's been without you two around."

"I bet. She's also been moping around and whining about you not being here." Santana sighed. "But it's okay, you're here now."

Rachel paused in preparing her pizza to glance at Santana wistfully. "You didn't miss me any?"

"Very much," Santana admitted softly. "I need you here to make me okay."

She finished putting the Daiya on her pizza and pushed it in the oven to melt before coming over to wrap her arms around Santana, resting her head against her shoulder. "I need you too," she whispered. "You and Brooklyn... you're home for me, Santana. You keep me stable."

She smiled and hugged her back. "Thank you." She smiled and kissed the side of the woman's neck.

Rachel laughed softly. "None of that," she scolded teasingly. "We're doing this right this time." She smiled up at her. "I want more than," she trailed off nodding towards the bedroom with with a suggestive smirk, "with you. I want everything and I am willing to take as long as necessary, to _wait_ as long as necessary to get that, Santana. I want to be more than friends... I want to come home to you some day."

"I guess we have a few months to figure it all out right?" She said softly. "We won't be able to hug or do anything that might get us in trouble."

"I kind of hate that part." She grimaced, moving to get her pizza out of the oven. "But I think the space will do us good. I really would like you and Brooklyn to come out and visit though. Maybe around the holidays?"

"Maybe that's her birthday present?" Santana sighed, shaking her head, not fond of the idea of waiting that long. "Or maybe we can come at the end of the summer before she starts school again."

She shook her head, smiling at Santana. "Just tell me when you want to come and I'll send you tickets. Don't worry about budgeting for it or the media. I'll figure something out."

" _We_ can figure something out," Santana said softly as she cut Brooklyn's pizza and got a slice for herself.

Brooklyn came back into the room and smiled happily seeing her two favorite people together again. "Dinner times?" she asked before she got the drinks out.

"Dinner times indeed!" Rachel laughed, swinging the little girl up in her arms and dancing her over to her chair after helping her get drinks for the three of them. "The best dinner times are the ones with family, don't you think, Brooklyn?"

"Yes! Happy family like in books." She smiled and tucked into her slice. She munched happily as Santana shook her head with a laugh.

"You're right, Brooklyn, family dinner is better," Santana remarked as she smiled up at Rachel.

"And if family dinner involves pizza, all the better right?" Rachel teased. "Brooklyn, if you'd like, when I'm done with my movie, I can teach you how to start making things that won't make you sick. We can probably cook together because you'll be big enough then, right, Santana? How's that sound?"

"That sounds fun!" Brooklyn smiled happily, kicking her feet as she ate. "I like cooking."

"Me too," she grinned. "Something we have in common besides loving music, hmm?"

"Yes." Brooklyn smiled, then frowned. "But I don't want you to go to California," she mumbled as she took a bite of her pizza. "We just got you back."

She sighed softly, reaching over to brush back Brooklyn's hair. "I know, sweetie. But I need to do this. I promised I would and you know how important promises are. I'm going to miss you so much though. You and your mommy."

"Brooklyn, we can take a trip to go and see her in LA. Maybe before you go back to school." Santana smiled. "We can do that."

"Really?" Brooklyn smiled. "We can go? Can I put it on my big calender?"

"Sure, but _after_ you finish eating and wash up," Rachel chided gently. "You don't want to get your calender dirty, do you?"

Brooklyn nodded and continued eating. Santana just smiled and watched before she finished and started cleaning up. "I'm gonna shower if you and Rachel want to start a movie," She mentioned as she put the leftover's in the fridge. "Brooklyn needs pajamas on first."

"I'll help her out," Rachel offered, helping clean up. "What do you want to watch?"

Santana headed into the bathroom and Brooklyn just beamed at Rachel. "You mommy's boyfriend now? You love mommy?" She said as she hopped off her chair and looked up hopefully at the woman.

"I love your mommy very much, Brooklyn," Rachel nodded, crouching down in front of her, "but I still can't be her _boy_ friend, silly." She tapped her on the nose with a grin before smiling shyly. "I would very much like to be her _girl_ friend when we're ready for that though. How's that? Would you mind me being your mommy's girlfriend?"

"I like that!" She smiled and kissed Rachel's cheek. "You can be mommy's girlfriend when you want." She took Rachel's hand and smiled. "What do you wants to watch?"

"How about Finding Nemo?" she asked with a smirk, knowing it was the little girl's favorite. "Let's go get you changed for bed, okay?"

"Yay! Nemo!" She said as she scampered off into her bedroom. Brooklyn headed over to her dresser and picked out a pair of sleep shorts and a tshirt since the un-airconditioned apartment was rather warm that night and quickly slid them on. "My shirt has a panda." She smiled as she showed it to Rachel.

"It's adorable." Rachel smiled at her, helping her get changed. "Just like you. Still my kitten even if I'm gone for a long time?"

"Yes." She smiled. "Maybe... mommy can get a real kitten when you come back to New York? You can helps me play with it?"

"Maybe." She leaned in to kiss her head. "We'll see, okay? I'm going to do my best to call you every night before you go to bed while I'm gone. If I won't be able to, I'll send your mom a text or try to call earlier. Okay?"

"Not the same," she said softly, "but, okay... You call and say night night to mommy too, right? She don't sleep good and I think you needs to say night night."

"Definitely to mommy too," Rachel reassured her, scooping her up before heading back out to the living room. "I'll talk to her after you're in bed, okay? And tell her things like how much I miss her and how I can't wait to be home with the two of you. Sound good?"

"Sounds good." She smiled as she snuggled into her lap. "Nemo times?"

"Yes, ma'am. Want to start now or wait for your mom?" she asked, settling down on the couch with Brooklyn snuggled up against her.

"Mommy doesn't like the beginning when the sharky eats the baby fishy," Brooklyn said as she handed Rachel the remote. "She likes when they're swimming."

"I see," she murmured, turning on the movie and settling back.

* * *

Brooklyn fell asleep in Rachel's arm before Santana came back from her shower. Santana came in and scooped up the little girl and headed into the bedroom to put her down to bed. She pulled her blankets over the tiny body of her daughter and kissed her head. She came back into the living room and smiled shyly at Rachel.

"Tea?" She offered and looked over to the kitchen.

Rachel smiled up at her, nodding with a shy smile as she got up to follow her into the kitchen and sit down at the table. "Please. It's been quite the day, hasn't it."

"Yes it has," Santana said as she turned in the kettle. "So... six to eight months huh..."

She sighed. "That's what we've been told to expect. Personally, I'm hoping it's less but afraid it'll be more."

"That sucks." Santana sighed. "Maybe we can get you a new show here when you're close to getting finished, make sure you stay for awhile."

She laughed softly, looking down at her hands. "I'd like that. Or maybe next time I have to work in LA, we'll be close enough for you two to come with me."

"Having a child kind of puts a damper on that," she said as she moved to clean up the leather bound drawing notebook and open spiral notebook that lay strewn on the counter. She grabbed two mugs out of the cabinet and dropped tea bags into them.

"I know that, Santana." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Why do you think I insisted on arranging things so you could stay here with Brooklyn? But as she gets older, you two could come on summer shoots and adjusting to a one year move wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

"If you wanted to continue in television and film," Santana said as she poured the water, "you could always think about moving out there for good. I'm sure they have schools in California."

"I'm not quite ready to give up Broadway yet," she pointed out. "But you're right. I'm not leaving New York for good yet though. It's my home and," she glanced shyly over at Santana, "there are very important things here still."

Santana brought over the tea and sat down across from her at the table. "I'm just saying. If Hollywood is a new dream.. we could figure that out."

"I have a big enough dream to figure out right here for now," Rachel murmured, reaching over with a shy smile to squeeze Santana's hand. "No need to rush into a new one. We've got plenty of time and I'm sure Quinn will find ways to move me where I need to be one way or the other."

"Okay," Santana said as she looked at their hands. "I want this... but I still have reservations." She looked up at her. "My reasons for why I broke it off are still there."

Rachel swallowed, nodding. "I'll do everything I can to keep you and her out of the spotlight as being attached to me. The studio is insisting on this bearding with Ray, so maybe we can work something out that makes all of us happy, including him and his boyfriend."

"Maybe," Santana said, "I just worry about Brooklyn. If... if we break up again... she couldn't handle it."

"Santana," she chided gently, "I don't think _I_ could handle it if we did. I've hardly been able to sleep since it happened."

"Yeah, me either." Santana sighed. "I'm just really scared to disrupt her life."

"I don't want to disrupt it, Santana. I just want to be _part_ of it."

"I want that too," Santana admitted. "It's been just me and her for forever and I don't know how or what to do to change things. My life is her."

"Just let me love you," Rachel suggested softly, reaching over to take Santana's hand again. "Let me share that and help you when it's hard... please?"

Santana hesitated for a moment before nodding. "I... I can try."

She smiled softly. "That's all I'm asking for, Santana. Just let me love you, because, well," she shrugged, smiling sheepishly, "I do. I have for a long time. I know this must be difficult for you, but I can be exceedingly patient when it comes to things I want."

"Thank you," Santana said before taking a sip of her tea. "I'm sorry Q's making you fake date that dude... it's not fair."

Rachel shrugged. "At least he's gay," she chuckled, "even if I did give him a nasty slap after the photo in the magazines. Ray's a good man, Santana. He understands hiding."

"It's still not fair. She went about it all wrong." Santana huffed. "I would have taken her down a peg if I could have, but she didn't tell me until after."

"That's our Quinn for you." She shrugged. "She's still exceedingly headstrong after all. Jay will have quite the time keeping up if he's not careful."

"She's back on her kid kick so she hasn't been spending a lot of time with me." Santana shrugged trying to hide how much it hurt that Quinn wouldn't spend time with her daughter. "She's not really worth my time if she can't deal with Brooklyn. It's been nine years for fuck sakes."

"She's frustrating, I agree." Rachel shrugged. "I don't have the faintest idea how to deal with it though. Perhaps she'll calm down if things stabalize again. Stress tends to bring out the self-loathing over Beth."

"Yeah, I get that." She sighed and finished her tea. "It just makes this very hard... like she half regrets her decision and half thinks I was irresponsible for mine."

"I'm sorry I'm leaving you to deal with it alone." She looked troubled by the idea.

"It's kinda what I do best," she said with a smile. "It's not a problem. I work for Quinn... she will come to me if she needs advice, nothing more, nothing less."

"It'll get better." She sighed, shaking her head. "I think she feels guilty about this whole mess with Ray blowing so far out of proportion. And you know you can talk to me, right?" She smiled at her. "I'm kind of going to need to hear your voice pretty much every day, so..."

"It's a good thing I have lots of long distance minutes." She smirked. "Webcam and such is good too."

"Webcam on my down time while Brooklyn's at school only!" Rachel laughed, her cheeks darkening. "I might be too tempted to risk trying while she's around."

"I think we can manage that," Santana teased, "unless that breaks the _slow_ rule."

"Well, I wouldn't actually be _touching_ you," she pointed out.

"Ah yes." Santana nodded. "This is true." She got up and cleaned up the tea dishes and sighed. "It sucks you're leaving next week."

She nodded, getting up to help. "You know... you could move in to my place early," she suggested softly. "Then... I could help if you wanted."

"I guess we could do that," Santana said, still not sure how everything would work. "I need to tell my landlord."

"I'll pay your rent for here if you want to keep it, Santana," she pointed out softly. "You don't have to give it up."

"I should look for something bigger soon anyway." Santana remarked. "I might just have to lose our deposit, but whatever."

"Nonsense," Rachel scoffed. "How much longer is left on your lease?"

"I don't know, I'll check." She shrugged. "I'm not that worried."

"It's your money. You worked hard for it and you've done nothing that would warrant losing your deposit. So," she shrugged, "simple fix. I'll simply pay out the rest of your lease and you can use it as, I don't know, a studio or something for the remainder."

"That's stupid," Santana said. "You will not. I will see what the terms are and deal with it, don't worry. I'll get Brooklyn to start pulling together her things tomorrow so we can go to your place."

"However you decide." Rachel shrugged. "You know," she thought about it then nodded, "we could put her bed in my office. There's only my computer desk and elliptical in there. It was Quinn's room when she lived with me so I know both of those things will fit in my bedroom again. Do you think she'd like that? Having her own room?"

"She'd love it." Santana sighed. "I think she'd really like having her own room."

"Then it's settled and," she licked her lips almost asking Santana to consider staying when she came back but knowing it was too soon, "and when I come back, we'll find a nice two bedroom for the two of you. Or even a one bedroom for me. Whichever is most efficient."

"Okay," Santana said. "Want to go and sit on the couch for a bit before bed?"

"With you?" she asked curiously, her lips curling in a shy but teasing smile. "Is that truly a question, Santana?"

"More of an offer." She smiled as she headed over, picking up Brooklyn's toys from the floor and turning off the credits for the film.

"Sounds like one I can't refuse," she teased, heading over to sit down and wait for Santana. "I'm really happy you're willing to move in early, Santana," she murmured softly, her cheeks coloring. "I'm glad we can spend the last few days before I fly out together."

"You know that we'd be over there anyway... This way Brooklyn gets to absorb as much as she can and we can start to figure shit out," she sad as she sat down on the couch.

"That's true now, but up until tonight, would that have been?" she asked softly, wanting to lean against Santana, but just barely keeping herself from doing so.

"No, because I was keeping my distance." She shrugged. "Which is hard since I'm your assistant, but I would have been really mad if you left without saying good by to my daughter."

"That's why I called earlier," she murmured. "I decided on the way over that I also couldn't leave without knowing if there was a chance that we could be something again too though."

"There was never a chance that we wouldn't be given another chance," she whispered. "Can we just be careful? When we come to LA I'm scared of getting photographed or Brooklyn getting seen."

"Of course we'll be careful, Santana. That's why I want to talk to Ray and his boyfriend. I think maybe we could arrange things to look like you're dating his boyfriend so we can all go out and do things together without the media being any wiser."

"That won't be confusing?" she asked softly. "I don't want to confuse Brooke."

"The only people we're trying to confuse is the media, right?" She shrugged. "Just avoid public displays of affection beyond hugging with anyone and it should be okay. She's used to you hugging people now, right? Besides, Ray and I certainly wouldn't be the first private stars around and if we're there, the attention will be on us and not you and Jack. So," she shrugged again, smiling sheepishly, "if we talk to Brooklyn, shouldn't it work?"

"Yeah, I guess so." She shrugged. "I just worry about her being exposed to all of that stuff. I've been trying to protect her from all the crazy parts of the world. I don't want the backlash of her having a gay mom to be one of them. She already gets enough shit for not having a dad and not looking like all the other little Latina girls."

"Children are cruel, Santana. You and I both know that better than most," Rachel pointed out. "Neither of us can protect her from that no matter how much we want to."

"Thanks for reminding me," Santana muttered. "But as long as I can keep her away from people talking pictures... it's fine."

"I'll certainly do my best to keep the attention on Ray and I," she teased, trying to lighten the mood. "If... Santana, if I have to do something like kiss him in public to keep them with us and not focused on you and her, please explain to her that it's for the movie. I never want her to think I don't want to be with the two of you."

"I will," Santana said. "So this boyfriend of Ray? Is he nice?"

"Jack?" She thought about it then shrugged. "He seems nice and friendly if a little overly impressed with his own fashion sense. He's in design in some manner though, so I suppose it should be expected. I've only really had the chance to meet him once though and it was just in passing."

"Like Kurt? Or more understated," Santana asked as she moved her body so she could rest her head into Rachel's lap.

Rachel laughed, idly running her fingers though Santana's hair. "Significantly more understated. He doesn't dress like he's expecting a runway to appear at any moment, but the fabrics and cut are impeccable to my eye."

"Good to know." She said, "I just... I don't really love the idea, but I can do it if you think it will work."

She licked her lips, taking a breath. "I don't love it either. I want to be the one who gets to hold your hand, Santana. The one who gets to kiss you just because you did something cute while we're walking down the street. I want to tell the studio to shove it up their proverbial nose sideways and that I'll love and date who I want to. But right now, this is the best I can do. And... I'd rather have you in secret than not at all."

"Yeah." She nodded and looked up at Rachel with a shy smile. "Better than nothing. I can handle that and hopefully I can get Brooklyn to understand..."

"I can talk to her too if you want," Rachel offered with a shrug. "And maybe we can take her to see the movie when it comes out? I'll get you a copy of the script if you'd like so you can make sure it's okay."

Santana smiled. "It's okay. I'll talk to her about it." She curled her legs into her chest as she laid on her side again. "That'd be nice. Make sure it's family friendly and all that jazz."

"It's supposed to be." She rolled her eyes. "And the studio is absurdly focused on being _family oriented_." Her hands moved to bracket the words with air quotes. "I swear, once I have enough of a name to write my own contracts, I'm never working with this studio again. The private lives of actors are not the playground of the studios."

"Mmm. Called showbiz, babe." Santana smiled. "It's kinda like what you do. At least they're not hopping you up with medications and shit like they did Judy Garland or Marlyn Monroe." She shrugged, when Rachel gave her a look she smirked. "What? You think I don't listen to your ramblings?"

"You're amazing." She laughed, beginning to lean down, but stopping with a shy smile and a blush. "Santana... is it breaking the _slow_ rule to kiss you right now?"

"You can kiss me," she said shyly. "Please."

"Good," she breathed, leaning down to kiss her softly, lips brushing Santana's in a gentle caress. "I've missed this..."

"Me too," Santana whimpered, her head tilting up unconsciously for another kiss.

Rachel willingly obliged, fingers of one hand tangled in Santana's hair while the other sought one of Santana's. She kissed her softly, just letting her know she was there and that she planned on staying. There was no pressure, no push to move things past the kiss, but she tried to use it to show Santana how much she cared.

Santana leaned up to kiss back. Her lips slipping over Rachel's. When Rachel finally pulled back with a low whimper, she was breathing heavily, a tiny smile on her lips as she caught her lower one between her teeth.

"I think," she mumbled, her cheeks darkening with a blush, "I think we should stop if we want to keep going slow. You're... you're very hard to resist, Santana."

"Y-yeah." Santana stammered. "It's good they we will sleep in different beds tonight."

She chuckled softly, fingers lightly stroking over Santana's cheek as she tried to regain her equilibrium. "Especially with Brooklyn in the room," she teased before sobering. "Please don't give up on me again. We can make this work."

"I'll try not too," she whispered as she looked at her friend. "I'm just... you know that I get nervous when I'm left to my own devices. I'm not that good with relationships."

"I'm not exactly known for my successful relationships either," Rachel pointed out. "After all, I almost married _Finn_. If Quinn hadn't gotten into her accident," she trailed off shaking her head. "It's positively horrid that it took her nearly dying to knock some sense into me. I mean, I actually agreed with Finn wanting to move it up because David almost managed to commit suicide!"

"Yeah. That wasn't a good day." Santana sighed. "I spent most of that week in the hospital spending time with Dave and Q..." She thought for a moment. "I wonder how he's doing... I haven't talked to him since I left. Hope he's okay."

She thought about it for a moment. "The last I heard he was in the northwest. Oregon maybe? Something to do with computers I think. I could probably get you his email address or I think he's one of my friends on Facebook. Do you still use Facebook? Oh, I probably should start looking into locking it as private with this movie role coming up..."

"No, I deleted my Facebook when I got outted. I couldn't handle the comments," she said. "I told him I was leaving... I was visiting him in his rehab place. He and I were close for awhile. With the whole understanding what each other was going through thing."

"Well, I'll get you his email address." She smiled down at Santana. "I'm certain he'll be grateful to hear you're doing well. Ooh! Maybe you could handle my online presence while I'm busy? That could easily be assistant work, don't you think?"

"Awesome." She smirked. "I can stalk people I don't talk to anymore!" Despite the sarcasm, she actually felt a bit excited at the thought of that. "I'll build you a website too if you'd like."

"That sounds wonderful." Rachel laughed. "I'm certain you'd be better at handling my online PR than I am on my own. I love my fans, but I rarely ever have time to answer even a smidgen of what I receive and I'm not even a household name yet!"

"I think I can handle talking to the five homos that stalk your stage door every night," she teased, sitting up and grabbing her computer. "First things first," she said before typing the Facebook address into her browser. "Sign in."

Rachel leaned over and typed in her account name and password, telling the browser to save it for Santana. "You are deriving entirely too much pleasure from this, Santana. I certainly hope I won't log on some day to find my status is something along the lines of _dressing like a hobbit for my trip to Munchkinland_ ," she teased.

Santana pouted. "Day one plans scrapped." She flipped up to the privacy settings and put it on locked and then quickly made her a public fan page. "There. If people wanna like you they can do it on the fan page versus trying to friend them," she said. "Also," she moved to relationship status she switched it to _in a relationship_.

Rachel smiled shyly when she noticed the change. "Don't answer any question about who I'm in a relationship with," she murmured, taking one of Santana's hands and squeezing it. "The media will assume it's Ray, Quinn will probably assume it's a PR move, but you, Brooklyn and I will know the truth and that's what matters. Can I," she blushed slightly, ducking her head, her voice softening, "can I call you my girlfriend? I know I can't proclaim it to the world, but... I'd like to know if I can at least think of you like that."

"Yes," Santana said, "and please don't tell Quinn about us, I don;t want to deal with her and her judgement."

"Why would I?" She raised a curious brow. "I'm barely even talking to her at the moment do to this entire debacle being her fault. She _knew_ we were together, but still insisted on my going with Ray as a _date_ instead of meeting there as friends. Which got the idea in that ass of a studio rep's head that we should actually be _dating_. Ugh," she shook her head, "it's such a mess and I'm still entirely mad at her about it."

Santana nodded and leaned back to pull Rachel against her back. "Okay, I'm sure it will be okay in a few months... but right now I kinda hate her."

"Don't," she whispered, resting her chin on Santana's shoulder and wrapping her arms around her waist. "Not for this. We can fix this. I'm furious at her, but she's my friend. She's _our_ friend, Santana. And Brooklyn's Auntie Quinn. Be mad, but please don't hate. Hate is a terrible thing that just eats you up from the inside."

"Oh that's what's eating me up inside," she joked with a sad smile. "I can not hate Q, but there are people I do hate and that's just who I am."

"Who you are is a wonderful mom and a loving, beautiful woman, Santana," Rachel insisted. "The hate just distracts you. Just let it go. Be happy. Please?"

"I don't know how to be happy," she said softly. "But, I'll try if you want me too."

"Try," she whispered, leaning up slightly to kiss the corner of her jaw. "Start letting go of the bad things and just enjoy the good things. I'm going to help you, okay? I'm going to do my best to make you as happy as I possibly can. And," she smirked, hearing a familiar rustling behind them, "I bet a certain someone who should be sleeping will too."

"Mommy? Rachie? I had a bad dream," Brooklyn whined, rubbing her eyes with a little fist. "Come to sleep with you?"

"We'll be in in just a moment, sweetie, okay?" Rachel called back. "Think you could handle that, Santana?"

"Brooklyn in between us," Santana said softly as she stretched. "I'll be okay. You just keep your hands to yourself."

"Speak for yourself, frisky!" She laughed, getting up. "Okay, sweetie, we just need to get changed so get into bed, alright?"

"Okay," Brooklyn mumbled, shuffling back into the bedroom, Chilly Bear in her arms.

Santana smiled and headed to check all the doors and head to the bedroom. She pulled on shorts and a shirt and crawled into her bed which Brooklyn had thrown herself on.

"Santana?" Rachel asked softly as she came in the room after washing up a little in the bathroom. "Do you have something I can borrow tonight?"

"Top drawer." Santana whispered as she gathered the girl into her arms and hummed a song to her.

Finding a pair of shorts and shirt that fit, Rachel quickly changed then climbed into bed on the other side of Brooklyn. Reaching out to rest her hand on Santana's hip with her arm over Brooklyn she snuggled in. "Good night, everyone."

"Night." Santana smiled as she linked their fingers.

"Night night, Rachie and Mommy," Brooklyn said as she closed her eyes.

Content and feeling like she was back where she belonged, Rachel sighed softly and fell asleep with a smile on her face for the first time in weeks.


	23. Chapter 23

Jay pulled his CR-V into the parking lot of the small diner about fifteen minutes off the highway and parked. Rubbing his face, he got out and stretched, popping his back. "Almost there, angel," he grinned at her through the open door. "Another half-hour and you'll get to meet the ladies and one grumpy old man that made me who I am."

Quinn carefully got out of the car and smoothed out her honey colored dress. "Are you sure?" she asked softly. "They're not wanting you to date an Indian girl?"

He cocked a brow at her. "Quinn, I _have_ mentioned that my mom is white before, haven't I? My dad converted to Christianity for her. I don't think your ethnicity is going to be a problem."

She shrugged. "I don't know," she said as she took his hand. "You're a beautiful Indian man, I thought maybe they'd have some idea of who they want you to be with." She glanced at him with a rueful smile. "God knows mine did."

"Quinn, you're a beautiful Christian woman," he smiled lopsidedly, locking the car up and escorting her inside. "The only people who'd have a problem with you are my father's parents and they have a problem with him and my mom for being Christian anyway, so stop worrying so much about what they may or may not have expected for me when I was a baby and just be yourself. They'll love you almost as much as I do."

"I can try," she said as she followed him inside and followed the hostess to the table. "So who will also be coming?"

"Oh," he smirked mischievously as he nodded thanks to the hostess and took a seat, "everybody."

"Oh God!" She looked horrified. "You said this would be casual! Please tell me no grandparents or cousins are coming!"

He laughed, amused at being able to rile her up. "Don't worry. Just my family. None of the extendeds yet. Joya will have her husband, Pete, and little Jacob with them and my younger sisters will be there of course, but that's about it outside of my mom and dad."

"Sounds big." She pouted and looked at her coffee cup. "You're a mean man."

"How am I mean?" He held his hands up in defense. "This is my family, Quinn. They raised me and made me who I am." He reached over and squeezed her hand with a tiny smile. "I want them to meet the woman that not only holds my heart, but makes me the happiest man alive whenever I see her smile."

She smiled at him fondly, used to his antics by now. "Alright," she said. "I'm just nervous to meet your family. So... your sister Maya is just a year older than me right? She's in... banking, wasn't it? You said Joya is at home with her kid but what about your little sister? She's in college?"

"Padma's just starting this fall," he nodded, with a grin. "She's the baby. Joya's only got a couple more weeks of maternity before she's back at work too."

"Cool," Quinn said, nodding slowly as she stirred her coffee. "I'm excited to meet all of them. Your parents are retired now? What did your mom do before?"

"I don't think my mom is _ever_ going to retire," he laughed. "I _think_ she's technically a writer, but half the time she might as well be an activist. Or maybe all the time. It depends on what she's got her teeth in this time."

"Wow," Quinn breathed. "That's amazing. How does she manage to do that? I'd like to read some of her stuff sometime."

"She manages by being nuts," he joked. "I love her, but six months out of the year once we hit high school, she was off on her crusades. At least she's not into missionary work, I guess. But you ever want to read her stuff, just ask. I'm sure she'd love to talk about it."

"Did you miss her when she left?" Quinn asked as she reached over and held his hand. "When I was little my father used to go on trips, but never that long."

"A lot, but we had cell phones by then. Expensive, but sometimes it's a necessary cost." He smiled at her, bringing her hand up to kiss it. "You're not planning on taking up activism and running away to join the Peace Corps now are you?"

"No, I have things to stay here for," Quinn said. "And I don't think the Peace Corps would allow me to wear dresses plus I don't have any talents that they could use."

"Oh, I'm sure they could find a use for you if you wanted to join," he smirked at her, "but I'm glad you're staying. I'd miss you too much if you went away."

"You're stuck with me," she reminded him. "So be a nice boyfriend."

"I like being stuck with you," he murmured, smiling lopsidedly at her before kissing her knuckles. "I _especially_ enjoy being stuck in bed with you," he teased with a wink.

"Dirty." She blushed, shaking her head. "You're not going to talk me into having sex with you this weekend. Not at your parents."

"Aw," he chuckled, "and here I was planning to run across the street and buy a box of Trojans at the drug store and take you out for a romantic," he waggled his brows at her, "picnic out by the pond later."

"You know that that won't work." She smirked. "You know once we start we won't stop and you get this giddy little face that just screams just had sex."

"What can I say?" He laughed softly. "I just love being with you. I don't care who knows either."

"I care if your family thinks I'm getting boned by you at ever turn," she said pointedly as she blushed. "You can wait for a few days."

He laughed again. "Spoilsport. I think they'll love you, so relax, okay?"

"If you're good and don't embarrass me I'll," she leaned over and whispered, "give you something special on the ride home."

He blushed. "Quinn, that's hardly safe. I can wait until we're comfortable back at home, don't you think?"

She pouted. "Fine... spoilsport." She leaned back in her chair. "We should head out soon."

"Hey," he smirked, getting up and heading over to pay for the coffee, "we'd have to pull over and risk getting arrested for public indecency, because I'd insist on returning the favor." He winked.

"You're obsessed," she smiled as she ducked into the bathroom to freshen up. After a little while she came out and headed to the car.

"I am obsessed," he joked as she got back in. "I'm obsessed with loving you and making you happy. I don't think that's so bad." Starting the car, he pulled out heading back to the highway to finish the drive home.

* * *

Quinn looked nervously at the white house surrounded by trees. She bit her lip and looked over at Ajay as he held their over night bags.

"Stop being scared," he murmured with a soft smile as he shifted their bags to one hand and reached for her. "Just be yourself. They'll love you as much as I do. Well, maybe not _as_ much because that would be creepy, but still."

She rolled her eyes and took his hand as he walked to the house, sighing softly at how much cooler it was inside than out.

"Jay?" The voice was soft but definitely female from further in the house, "Is that you?"

"Sure is, Joy," he called back, closing the door once Quinn was inside. "You the only one here?"

The woman walked out of the back room drying her hands on a towel before coming over and hugging her younger brother. "Just the only one inside at the moment. It's good to see you," she pulled back smiling up at him. "Looks like New York is treating you well, and is this your girlfriend?" She turned to Quinn and held out her hand, "It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Joya, this little twirp's big sister."

Quinn smiled and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Quinn," she said as she tried to get past her nerves.

"First time meeting a boyfriend's family?" she teased gently. "Come on, let's get some tea and let Jay go make the rounds to calm everyone down first."

"That'd be nice, thank you," she said. "Not my first time... but the first time as an adult," she explained as she followed her after Jay kissed her cheek and went to go see his parents.

"That does make a difference," Joya admitted, filling up the kettle from the stove and setting it boiling. "So what do you do? I know what Jay's said, but I'd like to know your own version."

"I'm a talent manager at a firm in the city." She smiled as she leaned against the island counter. "It's a small firm, but we have a few really awesome clients who are in some really cool projects."

"Yes, he said something like that. Don't you work unusual hours with a job like that?" she asked curiously, dropping tea bags into mugs to prepare for the water starting to boil. "How do your schedules mesh? I know police work is difficult after all."

"It's hard sometimes. Like I work early mornings and late nights and have to travel sometimes, so there's a lot of mornings he just comes to my place and crashes since it's closer," Quinn said as she put honey and lemon into her tea after Joya handed her a mug.

"Mmm," she murmured, fixing her own cup and taking a seat at the island. "Sounds like the two of you are practically living together already."

"Not really, he just lives in _Queens_... and I live in Manhattan." She shrugged as she sat next to her. "What about you? He said you had a baby recently?"

"Manhattan? You must be doing well." She nodded, sipping her tea. "Mmhmm, I'm in graphic design for a firm in Schenectady. Pete's got Jake out with Mom and Dad right now. It was hard, but he's a sweetheart. What about you? Plans for the future?" She smiled slightly, glancing at Quinn over her mug. "Lord knows Jay probably wants kids, but what about you?"

"Um... We haven't talked about that yet." She swallowed and took a sip of her tea. "I don't know..."

"Oh, that's too bad." She smiled friendlily. "I bet you'd have beautiful kids. And Jay's a great uncle. Oh," she paused, offering a sheepish smile, "be prepared for Mom. She's on a grandkid kick since Jake was born, so she'll probably ask you the same thing."

"My parents would do the same thing." She smiled knowingly as if she was willing to let her parents back into her life enough to give them the opportunity to ask. "It's just something I haven't thought about yet." Quinn took a sip of her tea and tried to not show that it was _all_ she could think about for the last few weeks.

"Really? Huh, that's weird." Joya chuckled slightly, "It was one of the only things I could think about once Pete and I _really_ got together if you know what I mean," she smirked. "But Ajay's so... _formal_ about things, I guess maybe you two haven't yet."

"That's... that's not it. It's just something that I need more time with." She swallowed. "It's just one of those things you know?" She looked outside and saw Jay holding the baby. "I have some reservations."

"That's natural." She smiled at her. "Things will work out in time, I'm sure. By the way, Padma's going to be absolutely thrilled to meet you, but I think Maya will be a bit more reserved." She chuckled into her mug before taking a sip. "It's not your fault though, don't worry."

"Okay. Anything I should avoid? Topics or what have you?" she asked nervously.

"No, most things are open season around here." She smirked, sipping her tea. "Just... don't ask Maya about the bet. I think she might be a bit of a sore loser."

"A bet?" She leaned towards her, intrigued. "What kinda bet?"

She laughed softly. "On whether or not your boyfriend was gay. Maya was convinced his not dating was because he was attracted to men. Her and Padma had fifty dollars riding on it for the last decade or so."

"Well... He's not gay so someone's losing cash," she said with a smirk as she took a sip of her tea. "But I'll try to not bring that up."

"Oh, you can if you want," Joya chuckled, "but I'm pretty certain Jay didn't know about it."

"Then best not make him question his sexuality now," she joked. "I would very much not like to lose him."

Joya laughed, setting her mug down. "Quinn, if you and my brother are as involved as he seems to be, I really doubt he'll be questioning anything of the sort. Perhaps looking for revenge on his sisters for betting on his love life, but I doubt he'll question himself."

"Was mostly kidding." She smiled. "Should we go and meet everyone? So they think I'm not hiding?"

"Aren't you though?" she teased, getting up. "Come on, let's go now that he's got his baby fix in."

"Yep." She smiled and smoothed out her dress and followed Joya out onto the patio and to the grass.

"There's my angel!" Jay crowed as soon as he spotted her, coming over and picking her up in a hug. "Come meet Mom and Dad."

She giggled as he picked her up. "Hi, baby," she whispered as she hugged him back. When he put her back down she walked with him over to the large family that were sitting around in the back yard.

"Hello, dear." An older woman in tan cargo pants and a loosely buttoned up shirt held a hand up to her as she shaded her eyes with the other, her pale blonde hair held back by a straw hat that was doing little to shade her eyes. "I'm Amy, Jay's mom. You must be Quinn. He talks about you so much, I feel like we've practically already met."

"It's nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about Ajay's family over the last couple month." She smiled as she shook her hand. "Thank you for inviting me here for the weekend."

"We wanted to meet the girl he's been raving about for the last few months." The older, darker man at her side smiled lopsidedly up at her. "I'm Arun, by the way." His words were colored by a deeper form of the faint accent that marked Ajay's speech.

"Hi," She smiled, instantly noticing the man's smile was the same as her boyfriend's. "It's lovely to meet you, sir."

"Please, sit." He gestured at the wicker chair beside the others. "That's Peter and the youngest, Jacob," he gestured at the young black man who'd gone over to talk to Joya when she came out with Quinn, "and you'll meet Maya and Padma later when they get home from their grocery run. You don't have a problem with chicken, do you? I'm grilling later."

"No sir," she said. "I'm fine with chicken." She smiled as sat down on the wicker love seat with Ajay. "Your home is beautiful."

"Thank you." He smiled at his son. "You found a lovely girl to bring home finally, Jay."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Don't hassle the boy, Arun," she scolded him. "Not in front of his girlfriend, you'll scare her off."

"Don't worry," Jay smirked, "I'll go after her." He smiled down at Quinn, settling an arm around her shoulders. "She's too special to let get away."

Quinn blushed a deep red and looked down. "No special surprise for you," she mumbled to him as she looked over his parents. "It's unlikely that I'll go anywhere unless he keeps making me blush, ma'am."

"Now, now. No calling me ma'am." She said, "Call me Amy, please." Quinn nodded with a smile.

"So what is it you do beside making our boy happy, Quinn?" Arun asked, adjusting his fedora on his head to shade his eyes better.

"I'm a talent agent." She smiled. "I have a few clients whose careers I manage. They work in Broadway and commercials right now, but one of them is heading to Los Angeles to film a movie."

"That's impressive." Arun nodded. "Your work? Getting them off to Los Angeles I mean."

"Dad," Joya chided gently, coming over to sit on the grass with her husband, Jacob wiggling in the grass between them, "don't grill her. She's not under investigation here."

Quinn smiled at Joya and her son. "Kinda, she's a good friend. I've known her since grade school," Quinn said as she watched the boy. "It's not her big break, but it will get her name out there."

"Mmm." He nodded interestedly, noticing her attention on his grandson he smiled. "You enjoy children, Quinn?"

She looked up quickly. "Who doesn't?" she said as she quickly grabbed onto Ajay's arm. She was nervous, she didn't want accidentally blurt out why she doesn't like to be around kids.

"Calm down," he whispered, kissing her cheek. "It's okay." Leaning back up, he smiled at his parents. "Quinn's great with kids, but it takes her a bit to get used to new ones, so just give her some space, okay?"

Amy raised a curious eyebrow at her son. "Oh.. Okay," she said as she looked at her husband. "Well our little Jake is very sweet, I'm sure he'll be all over you sooner or later."

Arun just shrugged. "Certainly. Ajay, will you be helping me with dinner later? Let the girls have their bonding?"

Quinn smiled. "Bonding? Should I be worried?"

"Only if you prefer cooking," he joked. "It's summer time. Let the menfolk handle the cooking while you ladies rest."

"It's fine, Quinn. During the warm months, my dad and I cook outside and in the cold months, my mom rules the kitchen. Except," he smirked at her, "when she decides my dad should cook anyway."

"If you're craving Indian food," she laughed, smiling at Quinn, "why not go to a native?"

Quin chuckled. "Ajay, is there a skill you're not sharing with me? Because if you can cook Indian food and have yet to prepare it, we are gonna have issues," she teased as she gave her boyfriend a wink."

"Hey, I can cook all kinds of things," he said with a smirk. "It's not _my_ fault you never asked. You have noticed I live alone and there's real food and not takeout boxes in my fridge, right?"

"I try to not look in men's fridges." She smirked. "Never know what you'd find."

"Hey!" He laughed. "I'll have you know my fridge is perfectly safe!"

"Jay, you should know better than to argue with your woman," Arun said with a laugh, smirking at the couple. "After all, isn't the best phrase _you're right, dear_ , Amy?"

"I've taught you well." She smiled. "Now, I think I hear the girls so let's go see about that dinner."

* * *

"Quinn?" Joya called out softly from the door into the guest room, Jacob cradled against her chest. "I thought you might like to meet Jacob finally when there weren't so many people around."

The blonde looked up from her computer and smiled. "Hey," she said as she closed it and set it on the night side table. "I'd like that."

Joya smiled at her and came into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed before holding her son out to her brother's girlfriend. "Here we are. He's quite friendly usually, but he's sleepy now."

"He's beautiful," Quinn said softly as she carefully took the six month old in her arms. "Hi Jake," she whispered as she ran her fingers over his hands.

Joya watched her quietly for a moment. "For someone who takes a while to get used to kids, you certainly seem experienced holding babies."

"Yeah," she said softly, her eyes fixated on the child in her arms. "Your first?" she asked when he finally looked up.

"He is." She nodded proudly. "I'm so lucky to have a husband like Pete to help me with him. He's a handful and a half. I'm sure I'd get no sleep at all if I were trying to do it alone."

Quinn smiled as she let the boy grasp her fingers. "I guess that's half the fun of being a parent." She said, "The fact that you still can get up every morning to take care of him even if you haven't slept yet..."

She laughed. "Oh believe me, if it wasn't for Pete, I wouldn't be able to do that half the time. He's my rock. Jake's a sweetie, but we had to start bottle feeding early because he cried _all_ night unless his daddy fed him."

"Daddy's boy." She smiled, picking him up and kissing his nose. "You're gonna be big and strong, aren't you. Be a police officer or a firefighter like your uncle and daddy?"

Joya laughed nervously. "I'd actually like him to go into something safer actually." She smiled lopsidedly. "His great-uncle, Mom's brother, died in a fire and dad was shot once and in a coma for two months. They're noble professions and I don't think it's possible for me to be prouder of Jay or Pete than I am, but... Jacob's my son. I don't want him hurt."

"I understand." She smiled settling the baby into the crook of her arm. "I'm so nervous every time Ajay is on duty... I couldn't imagine my child doing something so scary."

"You're not the only one who gets nervous about him." She shrugged. "It's part of being married to the service. Or, in the case of my sisters and I, being the daughters of the service since none of us opted to follow in Dad's footsteps like Ajay did."

"It's a lot," she agreed, "but he's worth being scared... He's taken all of my past and problems so amazingly, it's the least I can do. Supporting him, I mean."

"That's good. He needs someone to support him sometimes." She smiled, reaching over to play with her son's hands. "What problems though? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'll listen if you do."

"Just reservations and issues that carry over from when I was younger." She shrugged, her eyes gazing down at Jake. She was wondering is Beth was that big, what she looked like when she was 6 months old, what she looked like _now_.

"Are you okay?" Joya asked softly. "Did... did you have a problem involving children?"

"I have an eight year old daughter," she blurted out, her eyes closed as she admitted it.

Joya blinked, startled. "You... you have a daughter? Does Jay know?"

"Yes," she said simply. "He's aware. We talked about her once and never since then."

"Do you want to?" she asked softly. "Did something happen to her?"

"Not that I'm aware of... She's living in Michigan now with her new mother."

"Oh. Adoption," Joya nodded slowly. "Were you... pardon me for asking, but you were alone? You didn't have anyone to help you? The father didn't want to help?"

"He did... but he was an accident. I got pregnant the night I lost my virginity after drinking for the first time." She sighed. "He pretty much slept with everyone in my school, most likely every woman in my town. Even my child's adoptive mother."

She winced, looking disgusted. "He sounds like a real bastard. Did you get tested? Lord knows he's probably riddled with diseases with a history like that. You're safe though, right?"

"Yes," She smiled opening her eyes. "Truth be told I swore off sexual relations for a long time after. I stayed with my daughter - with _Beth -_ for forty eight hours after she was born. I held her and fell in love with her, then... I gave her up."

"I'm sure you did what was right for her," Joya reassured her. "That's what being a mom is about, Quinn. Doing what's right for your child. Even if it's not necessarily what's right for you."

"I don't know. She left for a year... then Shelby moved to teach at my school and let me be in her life, then ripped her away when I wasn't perfect." She sighed and rubbed Jake's back as he started to fall asleep. "Then she left, then I got into a car wreck and headed to college and I haven't heard anything about her in _years_."

"I'm sure if you tried you could find out," Joya said softly, "but don't take it too harshly, Quinn. Children shouldn't have kids. You weren't ready and you were very mature to find someone to take care of her when you couldn't."

Quinn shrugged, her thoughts going to Santana. "Maybe... but that's why I can't answer the question about having children with Ajay," she said softly, "I don't think it's right for me to have another child and love it when I couldn't love Beth."

She scoffed. "Don't be absurd. Of course you loved Beth. You still love her. That's why giving her up still hurts. She's your daughter, even if you gave her up. She'll always be your daughter even if someone else raises her because she's a part of you. Being adopted doesn't change that."

"Yeah, I know." Quinn sighed as she slid the sleeping baby back into Joya's arms. "But, I don't know if I'll get past how I feel. Your brother has been wonderful with it though, I doubt anyone wants to hear that their girlfriend had a baby at sixteen."

"Well, no," Joya agreed, cradling Jacob back against her chest, "but it's not like you aborted the child. You made a mistake as a child, but you made the best of it. I think you're pretty amazing for admitting it, actually. I don't know if I'd have been able to in your position. As for Jay," she chuckled softly, "I think he's entirely smitten with you. You'd practically have to chase him off to get rid of him now."

"I love him," she admitted with a soft smile. "He's the best thing that's ever come into my life."

"Really? The best?" She laughed. "Now I _know_ you're not living together. But if you're... you know," she smirked, not really wanting to talk about her brother's sex life, "he's in it for long term. He's sweet like that."

"That's... that's a big deal for both of us," she blushed, "so, so am I."

She shifted Jacob over to the other shoulder and held out her free hand with a smile. "Welcome to the family then."

Quinn laughed softly. "Thank you for listening and giving me baby holding therapy."

"Any time you want baby therapy..." She trailed off, lifting the sleeping boy up slightly to indicate him. "I'm going to go hand him off to his dad now. Do you want some company? I might be able to get my sisters in here if you want." She winked, standing up. "Make up a little for not having my brother to cuddle with?"

"Despite the rumors, I try to not cuddle with girls anymore," she teased, "especially ones related to my partner... but if Padma's chilling she was asking me about college earlier, so if she wants to come in..."

"Cuddles are less on the menu I think, than perhaps popcorn and cocoa if you're interested," she offered, leaning on the door frame. "You're not upset with Maya for thinking Jay's gay are you?"

"No! My friend thought he was too, to be honest... but she said she was going to call her fiance so... I didn't want to interrupt."

"Oh, him," Joya rolled her eyes. "I doubt that engagement will last. He still refuses to come out to meet us after all. But I'll get Padma. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to discuss college with you."

"Scared of the clan?" Quinn smiled, "Just leave the door open and see what happens."

"Scared of responsibility more likely," she scoffed. "Okay, if you're sure then. I'll be back in a minute with Padma."

Quinn quickly picked up her phone and sent a text to her boyfriend. **Baby, I love Joya... I just told her 'bout Beth... Held Jake. Feeling better. I love you so much.**

* * *

Lying in his bed in just a pair of flannel pajama pants, Ajay smiled at the text on his phone. "Thanks, sis," he murmured typing out a new message.

**She takes care of everyone. I'm glad you're feeling better, angel. I love you too. Can't wait to see you again in the morning. ;)**

* * *

She smiled as she looked at the message, **If I was badass I'd sneak into your room tonight. Make all your high school fantasy's come true.**

* * *

He laughed when he saw the text.

**You'd play Final Fantasy with me until dawn? ;) Angel, if you snuck in here, I'd be hard pressed not to have a need for those condoms you talked me out of buying earlier.**

* * *

**I'll have you know that I learned how to play all sorts of video games when I left my house in high school. Mario, Final Fantasy... and you are a very funny boy who refuses blowjobs.**

* * *

He actually fell off his bed laughing at her return text. When he finally got himself under control, he picked his phone up again.

**Who was it again who said I get a funny grin on my face when I get to have sex with you? Hmm... I forgot. I thought you didn't want everyone to know, angel. But I'm not refusing if you're offering. ;)**

* * *

Quinn looked at the floor before the next text came in. A loud thump rattled the floor and she heard chuckling.

**I can hear you laughing! And, no. You'll just have to handle yourself tonight... but maybe we could slip off to the picnic tomorrow. Maybe.**

* * *

He snorted.

**Maybe I will "handle" myself tonight. Need photographic evidence? ;)**

* * *

She blushed deeply before fumbling over the keys, **Yes.**

* * *

**Don't poke the fire unless you can handle the flare up, love. Are you sure? ;)**

* * *

**Send me the picture. It's something to hold me through until we get home and I can sleep naked in bed next to you**

* * *

**Alright, but only because you promised to sleep with me. Naked or not, I like having you in my arms. :)**

Stripping out of his pants and shorts - and making sure the door was shut - he stretched back out on the bed and quickly worked himself up. Lying back as he worked his shaft, he thought about Quinn. About being with her. About how she smelled and the way she felt. He let out a low groan as a particularly vivid image of their most recent time together when she'd pushed him down and mounted him flickered across his mental view screen, his balls tightening as he closed in on orgasm.

Fumbling for his phone, he panted as he worked the camera app on. Pointing it down at where his hand was stroking up and down his trembling shaft, he managed to activate the button just as he started releasing. Dropping it to the bed, he finished and wiped his hand on the sheets before sending the photo on to her.

**All for you.**

* * *

After nearly ten minutes without a response, Quinn thought she might have pushed him too far until she heard her phone vibrate. She opened the text and squeaked softly. "Oh my," she whispered as she looked at the photo with wide eyes.

**Dirty boy. I'll give you kisses in the morning since you had to be lonely tonight. Go to bed, baby... I love you**

* * *

**Already in bed. Love you too, angel. Sleepy now, talk in the morning.**

He dropped the phone on the nightstand and dragged a sheet over his naked body before letting himself drift off to post-orgasm sleep.

* * *

Upstairs, Padma knocked on the door. "Quinn? Joya got pulled off by Pete and my room's like right next to hers and she said you wouldn't mind talking...?"

She quickly closed and locked her phone when the youngest of Ajay's family came in. "Hey, yeah, come on in." She smiled.

The teen glanced at the phone and rolled her eyes with a knowing smirk. "You were so just texting porn with my brother, weren't you. I swear, I don't know why you two don't just share a room."

"Sit your butt down." Quinn smiled, patting the bed. " _I_ was not texting porn," she said with a smirk, "and we do not share a room because we are not married and your brother and I are old fashioned."

"You mean you're old," she said with a smirk of her own, sitting down and leaning against the bed post, watching Quinn. "So next time you stay, you'll share a room?" she teased. "Let me know, 'kay? I'd like to get ear plugs."

"First, I'm less than five years older than you," she crossed her arms across her chest, " secondly, we are not getting married and third, we would _not_ do that here."

"You don't want to marry my brother?" She raised a skeptical brow. "Why do I think you're lying? Come on, Quinn... you're like the only girl he's dated since that witch Sandy when I was a kid. And you're way better than her."

"I'm not saying I _don't_ want to marry him... I'm just saying it's not going to happen right now," she said as she leaned back. "So what about you. Tell me about yourself."

"What about me?" She shrugged a shoulder. "I just graduated high school and starting up college in Toronto in the fall. Thinking about converting back to Daddy's faith, but I don't know. I don't even really know what I want to do yet."

"Your brother told me that... You're going back to India in for winter break, right?" she asked. "That's really cool. You'll have a great time I bet."

She laughed slightly. "I'm kinda scared to be honest. I've only been there a couple times with my mom. Never on my own. And then I'll be on my own in Toronto too. Scary."

"It's just the flight by yourself, you're staying with your aunt right?" she asked. "I think you'll be okay once you get used to being in Toronto by yourself. When I moved to New York I was terrified."

"Yeah, but she's staying in India and not coming to Toronto with me. You were alone?" she cocked her head to the side curiously. "I thought you knew people."

"Just my friend Rachel... even then we weren't really close yet." Quinn shrugged. "You'll make friends. My advice? Join a club like the first week. It's the easiest way of meeting people without all the scary social awkwardness."

"Yeah, Joya says college is where we find our next family," Padma shrugged, "but I don't know. I've always been able to count on Jay or Joya or even Maya, when she wasn't wrapped up in some boy, to look out for me or tell me what to watch out for. But none of us has even really spent any time in Toronto..."

"I've spent time there a few times for work." Quinn smiled. "It's really nice. A bit cold in the winter so bring a scarf... and a good coat." She leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially, "Plus the drinking age is 19 so you'll be golden since no one cards." She winked. "I thought Ajay said you had a few relatives there that were gonna make you feel at home."

She winced. "Yeah, my cousins. But they're kind of loud and boorish." She glanced at Quinn sheepishly. "They're Mom's sister's kids and they're kinda jerks when they get drunk. I mean, sure it'll be nice having them around, but there's no way I'd go out with them if alcohol was involved."

Quinn nodded. "That makes sense, but you'll make a load of friends at Ryerson. It's right downtown and it's a super chill city. Not like New York... but you'll be surrounded by lots of Sikhs if that's what you want to pursue. Lots of South Asians in Toronto."

"Really?" she asked softly. "That's cool. I'm still gonna miss my family though..."

"Maybe I can convince your big brother to come with me on one of my trips..." She smiled, thinking of something else. "And how about I take you to a fancy dinner when I come up next time? My treat."

She brightened. "Really? You'd do that? Wow, you're the best, Quinn!"

"I know what college kids eat... it's the least I can do. Plus, one of my clients might be doing a film shoot up there so I'm gonna be back and forth some for the next year."

"Oh wow, that's cool." She smiled, cheered by the prospect. "Okay, so maybe you and Jay aren't getting married, but I'm totally calling you my honorary sister until you do, got it?"

"Don't you have like five sisters already?" she teased. "But thank you. Padma, you kinda remind me of a friend of mine."

"I've got two, thank you very much, but you're cooler." She grinned. "Do I really? Like, who? Are they famous?"

"Kinda. She's going to shoot a movie in Hollywood right now." Quinn smiled. "She's very bright but she also gets very scared of things too. She's leaving her family to do that... She's strong like you are."

"Oh cool. Is she married with kids like Joy is?"

"No... She just has some very close relationships that are like her family... It's complicated." Quinn sighed, knowing Rachel had made enough amends with Santana to at least let her be in Brooklyn's life. She didn't know that they were dating again, but she knew they loved each other.

"Oh, so like you and Jay? Only kinky or something else weird like that?" Padma looked confused.

"I guess. Rachel, my actress friend is hopelessly in love with someone who has a kid... she spent a lot of time with them and it got messy. So they didn't talk for a few weeks and now they just started talking again and Rachel had to go across the country."

"Wow, that sucks. I hope your friend and her friend work stuff out." She shrugged, hugging her knees. "I don't know what feeling like that is about though. I've never really dated or anything."

"Really?" Quinn asked, "You're stunning, no one at school caught your eye?"

"Not really," she shrugged again, "most of the guys are jerks and well, I'm not really into the girls either, you know?"

Quinn chuckled. "I was like that too... until I got to college and got a girlfriend," she blushed slightly, "and now your brother."

Padma snickered. "What's the phrase? Gay until graduation?"

"You're funny." Quinn rolled her eyes. "But I think dating is overrated unless you connect with someone. Don't rush it."

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugged. "Would you have known you were connecting with Jay or whatever if you hadn't dated though?"

"Yeah." She smiled, remembering. "Yeah, I would have. He smiled at me and I was done. I have never felt that before."

"Not even with your girlfriend?" she teased.

"Nope. I loved Rachel... but, turns out friendship was better." She shrugged. "I was never really in love with her I guess. Not like with Jay... who quite honestly makes my heart skip a beat sometimes."

"That's cute. So," she looked slightly askance at Quinn, "I remind you of your college girlfriend. That's... okay, I'm gonna take that as a compliment, but I'm so not that into that, okay?" she teased.

"She's also my _best friend_ ," Quinn reminded her. "You remind me of that part, shouldn't you be in bed _little girl_?" she teased.

"I don't know, think Joy and Pete are still doing the nasty?" she asked with a grin. "Cause I don't need a soundtrack to sleep to."

Quinn's face scrunched up, "The baby is in there..."

"And totally asleep," she shrugged. "Besides, he's tiny, I doubt he'd remember. How do you think siblings occur anyway? Not everyone's lucky enough to be late like me."

"Yes, Padma... I'm well aware of how babies are made, thank you." She rolled her eyes. "How about if they're not done banging you come in here and crash? If not then I'll see you in the morning?"

"Alright, alright." She smirked getting up and heading for the door. "I know a get out when I hear it. Sleep well, Quinn. And for the record, I'm really glad Jay found you."

"Me too..." She smiled. "Now go, I'm tired. Your family is exhausting," she said as she curled up under the covers.

"Night," Padma smirked heading out, "Enjoy your dirty texts from Jay."

* * *

It was a little before seven in the morning when Quinn got up and showered. She pulled on pair of jeans and a t-shirt, leaving her hair wet as she slipped down the basement stairs after saying a quick good morning to Joya and Amy. Closing the door to the bedroom tucked in the corner once she slipped inside, she smiled when she looked at Jay, he was curled onto his side his breath coming out if soft snores.

Quinn moved close to the bed, her eyes roaming his bare back and shoulders as he slept. She smiled when she saw the sheet had been kicked down, leaving him mostly exposed to her gaze. Hearing someone come in the room on a subconscious level, he rolled towards the door, landing on his back, but didn't really wake up when his mind registered the scent of Quinn's perfume. He sprawled across the bed, unknowingly exposing his entire body to his girlfriend's eyes, snoring softly in sleep.

She smiled before leaning down and pressing her lips against his chest. She kissed over his heart, then down his chest before gently sliding her body on the bed to straddle his legs. She looked up and was relieved when he hadn't woken up. She pressed a kiss to the v that angled to his lower body. She pressed a soft kiss to his semi-hard member, her eyes flicking up to see his face.

He groaned low in his throat, his shoulders and hips shifting on the bed, but didn't wake up. "Quinn," he whispered, his sleeping mind going to his girlfriend as a hand drifted towards his member.

Quinn smiled as she slipped her tongue out and wrapped it around the tip of his cock. She lathed it lightly sucking her lips gently against him every few moments.

The muscles of his abdomen jerked, bucking his hardening member towards her. A low moan slipped from his throat as his hand tried to curl around the base of his member as she sucked him.

She moved his hand away as she took the tip fully between her lips. She sucked and slid him deep down her throat as she sucked him to his full length.

"Oh my G-," the word caught in his throat as he jerked awake, staring down his nude body in shock at the sigh of his blonde girlfriend's lips bottoming out against his body. "Q-quinn?"

She looked up and smiled, licking up his length. "I said good morning kisses," she mumbled before taking him in her mouth again.

"Oh my God," he gasped, tangling his fingers in her hair. "S-so good, angel... n-never thought... God..."

She took his entire length in her mouth, gagging slightly before pulling away and focusing on the tip.

"Q-quinn," he panted, getting close to climax with her lips around him. "Fuck, angel... I'm not going to last much longer..."

She reached for one of his hands and intertwined their fingers. She sucked harder, running her hand up the other half of his shaft trying to milk him empty.

He groaned, the sound choking off as he felt himself releasing into her throat in a short series of spurts. "F-fuck," he choked out as he dropped back down a moment later. "God, angel," he smiled at her, panting as he ran his fingers through her hair, "you didn't have to do that..."

"Wanted to," she whispered as she swallowed and moved to lay with him.

"You're amazing," he breathed, kissing her. "If you can be quiet, I'll return the favor after I go to the bathroom?"

"You know I'm loud," she pouted. "I can wait till tomorrow night," she said as she cuddled close.

"That is so not fair. You get to play, but I don't?" he chuckled, moving to get up to go to the bathroom. "I'll be right back, so just consider if I could kiss you quiet while fingering you?"

"Not this morning, hotshot," she said as she sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm helping with breakfast."

"Might want to come in and shower with me then," he teased, leaning in to kiss her before running to the bathroom. "Cause you smell like sex."

"Damn," She said before stripping and following him.

He paused, eyes roving over her body as he finished washing his hands as she came in. "You know... I've got a condom in my wallet," he whispered, feeling his member stirring again at the sight of her naked body.

"We don't have time," she said as she slid into the shower and grabbed the soap.

"That is a _terrible_ shame," he muttered, getting in and helping her clean as innocently as possible.

"I like to give you orgasms sometimes, you don't always have to reciprocate," she said as she washed her body.

"Mmm, but I do enjoy it," he smirked, cleaning up and starting to scrub his hair, "and it makes me feel good to know you like it when I'm with you like that."

"I do love it," she said before rinsing off and getting out. "You finish and clean your bed up," she said before drying herself off with a towel, "I'm gonna go do breakfast."

"Okay," he agreed, "and Quinn?" He wiped his hair out of his eyes and smiled shyly at her, "Do you think maybe when we get back we could maybe talk about making waking up together a... permanent thing? Like," he shrugged, "maybe moving in together?"

"You wanna live with me, officer?" Quinn smiled as she pulled on her panties then jeans.

"Yeah," he nodded, reaching to turn off the water. "I kinda do. We hardly get enough time together as it is with our schedules and I'm practically there all the time anyway..."

"Okay," she said as she towel dried her hair, "I'd like to talk about that." She pulled her bra and shirt on before kissing him softly, "I'd love to wake up to you every day."

He smiled lopsidedly, "Cool. Go on and head up before everyone starts assuming we're having sex and you're just quiet." He grinned at her, happy in the moment to get everyone he loved in one place. "I'll be up soon."

Quinn slipped back up to the kitchen, braiding her hair back. "Morning again, woke him up before he slept away the day."

"Oh, I'm sure you did," Joya chuckled, beating the eggs in a bowl.

"Joya," Amy chided gently, "don't tease Quinn. We don't want to scare her off now that Ajay's finally happy."

The blonde smiled, "Plus... you were quite _vocal_ last night so I'm sure you'll be nice today." Quinn raised her eyebrow at Joya.

"That wasn't me," Joya smirked, nodding at her mom who was blushing. "And if you're talking about Padma's complaints, _that_ was Pete. And the headboard. But I'm not only married, I've got a duty to give Mom and Dad lots of grandkids to spoil until you're ready to step up and help with that," she winked.

"Oh yes," Amy chuckled, turning the bacon in the pan, "I think you'll definitely fit in around here."

Quinn blushed. "Is it always like this? Is Ajay just really shy?" she wondered as she considered the events.

"Pretty much," Joya shrugged, pouring the eggs into a pan.

"He's like his father," Amy explained. "Nothing physical until he's sure he loves the girl. It's why that horrid girl Sandy tore him up so badly. Honestly, I have no doubt that if you stay, he'll ask you to marry him someday."

"Good to know." She smiled, she started cutting fruit. "I'd say yes," she said as she cut the strawberries. "When he asks."

"Good to know," Amy murmured, going back to cooking.


	24. Chapter 24

Santana got Brooklyn settled at her daycamp before going and picking up coffee for her and Quinn. She sighed, not looking forward to spending an entire day in the office with Quinn. They still hadn't had much of a conversation since she broke up with Rachel and she wasn't happy with how Quinn was managing Rachel's career or how she was consistently disregarding her daughter.

She pushed open the door to the office and put Quinn's coffee on her desk before settling down on the couch and pulling out her laptop.

Quinn came in a few moments later. Her pale skin still kissed with the sun from the weekend spent with Jay and his family a few days ago. "Hi, San," she murmured sitting down at her desk and booting up her computer. "Thanks for the coffee."

"No problem," she said as she looked up. "Did you have a nice weekend?" she asked as she pulled out other notebook and planner and set them on the table.

"Yes. It was very nice. How about you?" She seemed distracted by logging into her system, so the question was likely little more than idle small talk.

"It was fine," Santana said as she rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee. She signed into Skype and pouted when she remembered that California was three hours behind and Rachel would still be sleeping for a few hours.

"Stop frowning like that," Quinn muttered, pulling a contract out of her desk to go over. "It's distracting. Do you know what's going on with the Ellsworth deal? I know he wants a model, but I thought he was going to contact you with more details."

"He's interested in that new girl that you signed. It's a black and white shoot for a new designer... but I told you I don't wanna be a manager or an agent so I don't know why you keep sending these things to me," Santana reminded her as she typed on her computer.

"I sent it to you because, until Rachel gets back, you're basically my assistant and I needed your assistance because I was going out of town." She settled her glasses on her nose before glancing up at Santana with a raised brow. "I know she's got you doing that ridiculous online thing, but I'm trying to keep you with enough work to justify keeping you as a full-time employee to my supervisors. Unless, of course, you can't handle it?"

"No, it's fine," Santana said as she tried not to glare. "But don't give me busy work... If you can't keep me employed I can find another job. Don't do me any favors."

"I'm not doing you any favors." Quinn took her glasses off and folded them on her desk. "I need an assistant. I don't want to sort through the reams of mediocrity that tends to cross my desk to find one and to be perfectly honest, I doubt I could beg, borrow, or steal enough favors to get permission to hire one even if I did want to go to the trouble. You're available and already on the payroll. I'm not giving you _busy work_ , Santana. I'm giving you work that I have too much on my plate to handle. It's called delegating. And it's also called trust, because if you screw up, I'm the one who'll have the mess on my resume."

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence," she said sarcastically as she ran her hand through her long hair. "Whatever, I can handle it though I'm not sure why I even bother," she mumbled as she focused back at the computer. "It's fine, just maybe _tell_ me next time you decide to change my job."

"I haven't changed your job. I'm just borrowing you, the same as I've done in the past," Quinn pointed out. "You're still Rachel's assistant as far as HR is concerned. I just don't see why you're being so stubborn about getting a promotion."

"It's fine, Quinn," Santana said as she intensely stared at her blank screen. "I can't change my hours, so don't ask."

"Why bother asking when I know you're obsessed with working with Rachel?" she muttered, her fingers flying over her keyboard.

"Rachel has nothing to do with my hours," she said as she looked up, no longer able to hide the glare. "My daughter, remember her? The little girl you ignore. She makes me not able to work late."

Quinn sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I am well aware of your child, Santana. There's no need to shove her in my face."

"There's no need to hate on a five year old." Santana scoffed, "God, I hope your boyfriend never wants kids."

"I don't _hate_ her, Santana, and leave Ajay out of this." She scowled at Santana. "You know damn well why I can't handle being around her, so stop it."

"It's been almost nine years," Santana snapped. "Get over it. I'm sure Beth is doing perfectly fine and living her life, maybe you should too."

Quinn glared at her. "And I'm sure that Brooklyn would be perfectly fine and you'd be doing wonderfully if you'd gave her away too!"

"Is that what your problem is?" Santana snapped. "That I kept her?"

"Maybe it is! Did you ever think that maybe I _wanted_ to keep my little girl, Santana?" Quinn's jaw was tight as she snapped. "That every time I see you and Brooklyn I think that I could have done at least as well as you did? Did you?"

"Did you suddenly forget that I was around when you were pregnant?" Santana said. "Did you forget that you're the one who was counting the days in the beginning until you could give the baby up to Schue's wife and re-join the Cheerios? That being the perfect little girl was more important that getting proper _medical checkups_ for your baby?" She tried to control her emotions. "You didn't want to keep her, _Puck_ did! You just wanted to go back to your perfect life."

"Don't do that! Don't act like my being scared meant I didn't want her! I was _fifteen_ , Santana! And _everyone_ shamed me for what happened, even _you_. Or don't you _remember_? I got as many check ups as I could _afford_!"

"That _Finn_ could afford," Santana reminded her. "Don't rewrite history, Quinn. Everyone shunned you when they found out you _lied_ , but even then everyone took you back with loving and open arms the minute you batted your pretty green eyes."

"Don't _you_ rewrite history! You weren't me and you _don't_ know what I went through! And unlike you, I _couldn't_ just leave to keep everyone from finding out. And don't act like you were my best friend when you found out, Santana. You got away from me as fast as you could and took Brittany right along with you. I'd thought you were my _friends_ but I had to butter Mercedes up just to have a _home_ in the end."

"You got pregnant from my _boyfriend_! You remember the fact he and I were together when you slept with him, right?" She scoffed. "It's not like we were friends anyway, we only liked each other because of Cheerios and our bloated sense of self worth. I'm sorry I didn't rally around you, but you _know_ my family. They're worse then yours in the high and mighty sense." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But it's not like you stood up for me when I needed it so maybe we're even."

"Your _boyfriend_ got me _drunk_ and _lied_ to me so he could _fuck_ me, Santana, and you broke up with him on the first day of school anyway." She shook her head. "Whatever. It's not like it matters anyway." She scoffed angrily, turning back to her computer.

"Whatever." Santana sighed. "Your issues are not mine or my daughter's fault. I kept her because I couldn't afford an abortion and I couldn't get Mike's permission to give her up for adoption _and_ I was homeless. So, yeah I fucking left to try to give my kid everything. But look where you are and look where I am. You got to go to your fancy college with no debt. I live paycheck to paycheck and only have a high school diploma... so congrats, Quinn. You win."

"It's not a _contest_ , Santana," Quinn muttered. "I'm glad you got to keep Brooklyn, but it hurts me to see her, so I avoid her. That's all."

"You need to _grow up_ ," Santana said softly. "You have a boyfriend who is in love with you and is willing to give you the world. Don't fuck it up because you're crazy."

"Oh thank you so much for making judgements on my sanity, Santana." She scowled. "Did you somehow magically erase high school? Because I wish I could. I am _aware_ that I have a problem regarding children. I am _talking_ with Ajay about it and we will _deal_ with it whenever we need to. My being able to be around _your_ child or not does not in any way impact on my relationship with him."

"So, it's just _my_ child." Santana swallowed, almost more offended now that she knew it was just her little girl that Quinn couldn't be around.

"Do _not_ make this about you, Santana! You know damn well Beth tore a massive hole in my life even if neither you nor anyone else wanted to help me deal with it!" She slapped a hand on her desk, lips tight to hold her emotions in check. "I had to go through all of that, getting pregnant because of the _lies_ of your _boyfriend_ who _I didn't even want to have sex with_ at _fifteen_ , getting ostracized _everywhere_ , having a child and being allowed only _two days_ before I had to give her up, and feeling like I had _nothing_ but being yelled at by _everyone_ about how much I was _screwing up_ whenever I tried _anything_ to cope?! _I_ went through that, not you! So forgive me if I'm not magically fucking _better_ , Santana!"

"Bitch, you have no idea what I've gone through," Santana snapped, closing her computer. "I'm sorry no one helped you get over your depression, that was shitty. But no one helped me either, like when I was getting forced out of the closet to the _entire_ fucking state of Ohio. When jocks would corner me and threaten to _make me normal_ on a daily basis." She shoved her computer in her bag. "When my girlfriend was fucking _Wheels and the Irish kid_ and _everyone_ knew about it _but me_ and no one told me. Or when I suddenly started not talking to anyone and got kicked out of my house because my Catholic parents couldn't handle one more disappointment and I had to hitch to anywhere to get away."

"Like hell, I stood up for you, if you remember," Quinn scowled. "Maybe Finn stopped giving a shit what I had to say, but I stood up for you in front of those jocks. I didn't know about Brittany, though I'm not at all surprised, and I was stuck in a wheelchair with my jaw wired shut for the rest of the school year! I was barely even _in_ school and you talked to me in the hospital so how was I supposed to know!"

"I don't even care, Quinn." Santana sighed, her shoulders slumping. "If you wanna keep playing the martyr, go ahead. I'm sorry for you if you can't get help for yourself."

"I'm so very sorry that my problems are such a hardship for you, Santana," she muttered, shaking her head. "I tried to help. It's not my fault you didn't talk to me. But you and I both know damn well if I'd asked you for help sophomore year, you'd just have laughed and used it to get ahead of me. I'm sorry you felt you had to run away but don't blame me that you were alone when you didn't even try to talk to me. You _know_ I would have understood what you were going through."

"Like you talked to me when you got pregnant. I had to find out from Puck with everyone else." She said softly, "Your problems are a hardship for me when my daughter asks why Auntie Quinn hates her, so yeah... maybe I'm taking this too seriously." She scoffed as she finished gathering her things.

"Stop acting like you wouldn't have used it against me if I'd told you. If I'd told you it would have gotten out that much faster and maybe I _would_ have had to run away because I wouldn't have had anywhere to live." Quinn shook her head. "Just... whatever. I didn't ask to be her aunt. I don't hate her and I'm sorry my thinking of Beth every time I see her hurts her, but the two of you have Rachel - and I'm fully aware you're talking again, so don't act so shocked - so you don't need me anyway."

"We don't need you," Santana said as she stood up. "You can go and be in your own emotional bubble and never deal with your problems. But, don't _ever_ think about coming around my kid because I'm not letting someone like you hurt her. She doesn't deserve it." She pulled on her bag and looked at her pointedly. "And yes, I'm talking to Rachel again... no thanks to you."

"Get out of my office," she whispered, staring at her keyboard. "I don't need your judgement. You've got what you wanted so just go."

"I can't do this," Santana said. "I can't be around you knowing that you can't stand the most important part of my life..." She sniffled, dealing with Rachel being away and the emotional strain her crumbling friendship with Quinn was causing tearing her up inside. "I can't... I don't think I can do this."

"Then don't be around me. Just take Rachel and stay away." She blinked at the far wall, not wanting to look at Santana. "Why not take Ajay while you're at it? He loves kids after all."

"Stop being petty, you ruined your relationship with Rachel... I had nothing to do with that." Santana scoffed. "I can quit... or just work when she's in New York, but I don't think I can work with you if you hate me."

"I don't _hate_ you!" she snapped, rubbing at her eyes. "And I was doing what was best for her career. _She_ wanted me to be her manager, not me. She _was_ my friend. Now I guess she's just a client. So don't you hurt her. Please..."

"She's still your friend, but she's pissed... she'll get over it." Santana rolled her eyes. "I'm not being mean, but Quinn... for the love of God, please go to therapy. Not everything is a personal attack on you."

"I could say the same about you, you know," she scoffed. "Because going to a shrink is so going to help me. What about you? Where's your therapist?"

"I'll go to one when you do," she challenged.

Quinn eyes narrowed. "Is this some kind of fucked up bet, Santana?"

"I'll go, when you go." She shrugged. "What could it hurt?"

"Our reputations?" she laughed humorlessly. "Fine. You find one, I'll pay. Or are you going to chicken out?"

"This is New York, everyone and their brother goes to a shrink." She shrugged, looking at Quinn for a long moment before sitting back down and pulling out her computer. "I'll see what's in the insurance plan."

"Ugh. Don't confine yourself to that. The mental health part of it sucks. I've got money saved. It's not like I do anything but work most of the time anyway."

Santana shrugged and started quietly searching for a therapist for both her and Quinn to go to.

"Remember," Quinn pointed out, "I'm only in this as long as you can hack it."

"Whatever, blondie, you're going... so if that means I gotta suck it up? I'll do it."

"We'll see."

* * *

When the chimes of the computer started ringing through Rachel's apartment, Brooklyn squeaked in excitement.

"MOMMY!" she exclaimed as she ran from the bedroom where she was just getting dressed after her bath over to the couch and bounced onto it. "Come fast it's ringing!" she said as she looked at the computer trying to figure out how to answer it.

"Baby, just click on the green button like I showed you last time," Santana called as she tried to pick up the mess from the bath. Brooklyn bit her lip and used her finger carefully on the touchpad to move the cursor up to the green button and pressed it button to click on it.

"I did it!" she exclaimed as she picture filled the screen. "RACHIE!" She smiled a toothy grin.

"Hi, sweetie!" Rachel smiled up at her, waving. "Are you almost ready for bed?"

"Yes," she said, "I just took a bath with my duckies."

"That's great. All nice and clean? How was camp today?"

"Good, I mades you a bracelet and mommy's gonna mail it to you." Brooklyn smiled as she sat to the front of the couch when Santana came up slid behind her and pulled Brooklyn on to her lap.

"Hey Rachel." Santana smiled, as she started to brush her daughter's hair.

"Hello, Santana." She smiled up at her. "The bracelet sounds lovely, Brooklyn. I'll be sure to wear it as often as I can, okay?"

"Cool, How is Cali-fornia?" she asked slowly making sure she said it right.

"That's really good pronunciation, Brooklyn!" Rachel cheered. "You've been working hard, haven't you. It's really pretty and warm and sunny here, but I wish you were here with your mommy so I could give the two of you big hugs to let you know how much I miss you."

Santana smiled over Brooklyn's head as the little girl chattered away. "Only seven weeks 'til we comes and see you!"

"That's wonderful! I can't wait until you're both here and I can show you around." She smiled at the two of them. "Maybe if your mom is okay with it, we can all go out to the ocean one day to swim. What do you say, Santana?"

"Sounds like fun." Santana smiled. "I'll remember to pack our bathing suits," she added with a wink as she ran the comb through her hair.

"Now there's something to look forward to," Rachel teased. "Anything fun coming up in camp, Brooklyn? You're still learning the violin, right?"

"Yes, but it's hard..." She pouted. "Makes my fingers and arms hurt when I play."

"Everything is hard when you first start, sweetie. It was hard for me to dance when I first started and playing the piano made me tired, but I kept working on it and now where am I?" She grinned at Brooklyn, waiting for an answer.

"Famous?" She smiled. "I keep practicing. I wants to be good and sound pretty when I play."

"Good for you!" Rachel laughed. "And when you get better, we'll play together, right?"

"Yes and mommy can sing." She smiled over her shoulder and Santana kissed her nose.

"I like the sound of that," Rachel smiled. "Are you heading to bed soon, sweetie? Want me to sing to you?"

"Yes, please," she said, "I go get in bed." She blew Rachel a kiss and scampered into the newly converted bedroom. Santana looked at Rachel and smiled.

"You're beautiful," she said as she looked at her girlfriend.

"And you're wonderful," Rachel agreed, smiling softly up at Santana. "I'm incredibly blessed to have the two of you in my life. Let's go sing her to sleep, okay?"

Santana picked up the computer and brought it into the bedroom. Brooklyn was lying in her bed, cuddled in her blanket with her arms around her bear. Santana sat the computer on the nightstand and sat next her her little girl and rubbed her back. "Alright, sleepy time, beautiful."

Brooklyn nodded and yawned. "Rachie? Can you sing the rainbow song?"

"Sure, Brooklyn," she smiled at the sleepy little girl through the screen. "Somewhere over the rainbow," she sang softly, crooning the song from the Wizard of Oz that was the little girl's favorite.

The little girl's eyes closed as the song came to a close, Santana rubbed her back for a few more minutes before turning on her nightlight and picking up the computer and closing her door part way. Santana put the computer on the kitchen counter and continued doing dishes. "How was your day, Rach?"

"Long, busy," she smiled sheepishly, listening to Santana work, "lonely. Take your pick."

"I'm sorry, do you have plans for tonight? It's only like six for you," she said as she reached up to put some dishes on the top shelf.

"Does talking to you count?" She smiled lopsidedly. "I don't feel like going out and I'd... like to spend some time with you, if that's alright?"

"Sounds perfect. Why don't you go and get some dinner then text me when you get back?" Santana smiled. "That way you aren't starving and all my errands will be done."

"Sounds like a plan." Rachel smiled happily, a light blush coloring her cheeks. "I'll text you in a little while, okay?"

"Talk to you soon." Santana smiled and closed her laptop and continued to clean the apartment up from the tornado that was Brooklyn.

* * *

It was nearly an hour later before Rachel was able to send her text to let Santana know she was ready. Staring at her phone, she wondered what to send with her lower lip caught between her teeth. She wanted to engage Santana in a manner that would hopefully bring about an outcome of sexual release, but it wasn't exactly something she was very experienced with. Finally she took a deep breath and began typing.

**Santana, do let me know if this is untoward and I promise I will cease immediately, but I feel that it would be prurient to inquire as to the nature of your undergarments at this juncture.**

Her lip firmly caught between her teeth and a blush darkening her cheeks, she hit send.

* * *

Santana was laying on the couch reading when she picked up her cellphone and laughed.

**That was a very long winded way of asking me if I was wearing panties right?**

* * *

**Well, yes. I was also hoping to ascertain the color and style though. Please don't laugh. I've never done this before.**

She was blushing as she hit send again.

* * *

**Well, they look extraordinarily like my skin tone...**

* * *

Rachel blinked at the phone confusedly.

**Does that mean you are not wearing any panties or does that mean that you're wearing nude toned ones?**

* * *

**Nothing but Santana, baby ;)  
**

* * *

**Oh. Oh my. That's quite daring of you, Santana. I wish I was there to witness this phenomenon in person.**

Rachel was flushed, pulling off her blouse to try and combat the heat caused by thinking of her girlfriend in such a state.

* * *

Santana chuckled softly, getting up, turning off the lights and checking the lock on the door before heading into her bedroom - into _Rachel's_ bedroom, she reminded herself. She closed the door and laid down on her stomach.

**I never wear panties after work.**

* * *

**I believe I shall keep that in mind.**

Rachel blushed as she sent it, following it a few minutes later with another text.

**I'm in the process of changing for bed now, though I'm currently debating on if I should slumber in a natural state or don pajamas. Do you have any suggestions?**

* * *

**Stay naked** , Santana typed out as she closed her eyes and thought about Rachel wandering around her rental condo in nothing.

**It's a nice thought.**

* * *

**I thought that might be your vote on the subject.**

She chuckled as she typed it out.

**Oh! I made a special purchase today to help relax at night. Shall I send you a photo?**

* * *

**Special purchase? I'm intrigued.**

* * *

Rachel blushed as she pulled her brand-new vibrating dildo out of the bag and snapped a picture of it. Sending it to Santana, she quickly followed it with another text.

**To help relax me when you're not here to help. Might experiment with it tonight.**

* * *

"Holy shit," Santana breathed as she looked at the picture, she licked her lips and moved further up the bed to lay in the pillows.

**God... Rachel...fuck... how big is that?**

* * *

**A little over six inches.**

She sent the text, quickly following it with:

**I wonder if I should acquire a harness at some point for it. So you could assist me in its use at a future date?**

* * *

**god yes, i'd love that**.

Santana moaned softly at the thought.

* * *

Rachel stretched out on her bed nude, examining the toy. Picking up her phone, she typed in another text.

**It's fairly large. I may need additional lubrication.**

Sending the text,, she reached down between her legs, eyes widening when she realized she was soaked already, her fingers coming away glistening with arousal.

**Or maybe not...**

* * *

**Can I watch?**

Santana was nervous about her question, but she couldn't stop herself from asking.

* * *

**Watch?**

She looked at the phone for a moment curiously.

**You wish to watch me engaging in self-pleasure while thinking of you, Santana? Wouldn't that be counter-productive given your noted ability to not be able to achieve climax without assistance?**

* * *

**I still wanna watch you get off... just turn on your computer.**

Santana sent the text before running and grabbing the laptop off the kitchen counter and closing her door again. She opened it up and signed back into skype. She unbuttoned the front of the gingham shirt she was wearing as she waited for Rachel to sign on.

* * *

Getting up and getting her computer while trying not to make a mess anywhere, she set it up on the end of the bed and bit her lips with a shy smile before spreading her legs and hitting the command to log on. When Santana's image came on the screen, she had two fingers working through her wet folds, stroking herself while her other hand pinched and twisted at a nipple.

"Hi," she whispered, almost shyly except for what she was doing.

* * *

"Hey," Santana breathed out, as her eyes went to where Rachel's hand was. "Wow," she said as she watched. "That might be the hottest thing I've ever seen."

"Today? Or ever?" she asked shyly, the hand that had been fondling her breast moving down to hold herself open so Santana could see better. "You should realize that you're the only person I would _ever_ even consider doing this for, Santana."

"I like knowing that," she breathed, as she ran her hand over her own abs, "and ever... sexiest thing ever."

"This is your fault you know." She laughed nervously, licking her lips as her fingers pinched and tugged on the hood of her clit. "I can't help but think about you and how you could make me feel when you kissed me, let alone when you," her breath caught as she twisted her clit slightly, "when you _touched_ me... Makes me so wet that I have to carry a change of panties in my purse just in case I accidentally imagine it."

Santana smiled. "Yeah? We should get you new memories someday soon," she whispered as she slid her hand up to her own breast under her shirt.

"I'd like that," she panted, reaching for her new toy. "Do you think I should use this?" she asked shyly, bringing it into the frame.

"In a minute. Don't want you to come too soon," she said as she slid her own shirt off and sat bare chested in front of her girlfriend.

Rachel choked out a laugh. "You do _that_ and you don't want me to come too soon?" She laughed incredulously. "Tell me what to do," she whispered after a moment. "Tell me, Santana..."

"Touch your breasts," Santana said, "touch your nipples and pretend it's me."

She nodded, closing her eyes and running both hands up her body to pinch and tug on her nipples, inadvertently leaving a trail of arousal glistening on her body from her core to her breasts. "G-god, Santana... feels so good..."

Santana watched, entranced by the images in front of her. "So sexy," she murmured. "take the dildo and run it up and down your slit."

"You sure?" she whispered, reaching over blindly for it and fumbling around until she managed to find it, dragging it down her body until the tip was just running along her folds.

"Does it feel good?" Santana asked. "Do you want to feel it vibrating against your clit?"

"So good," she whispered, reaching down with her free hand to part her folds and slide it through them until it was glistening with her juices. "I want you to fuck me with it, baby..."

"God, I want too... but you're gonna have to do it for me okay?" Santana husked, "Slide the tip inside."

Rachel's breath caught as she eased the tip of the dildo just inside her entrance. "G-god, Santana," she gasped, pushing it a little further in, "I'm definitely buying a harness for you..."

"What... what if want you to use it on me?" she said as she leaned back against Rachel's pillows. "In this bed... your bed."

"God," she whispered, pushing it all the way in with a low groan. "Can I? C-can I take you like that? M-make love to you like that?"

Santana whimpered as she watched the gold coloured item disappear into her lover's core. "Yes," she said, "I'd like that. Tell me how it feels, Rachel."

"Feels," she panted, shifting the object in her core, "feels _full_... like I'm being stretched. Bigger than your fingers... deeper..."

"Start sliding inside slow," she whispered. "Imagine that I'm guiding it."

Rachel whimpered softly as she started slowly pumping in and out of herself. "God... I wish I could feel you against me... your mouth on my breasts, biting at me..."

"Kissing your breath away?" Santana asked shyly.

"Please," she breathed, the microphone barely able to pick it up. "I miss you so much, Santana..."

"I miss you too," she replied. "I wish you were here with me..."

"Or," she gasped, her body starting to tremble as she fucked herself while they talked, "you here. Just... just _with_ me... can I... can I turn it on, Santana? I need more..."

"Yes, turn it on... turn it on and go faster," Santana demanded, her eyes fixed on her.

Rachel nodded jerkily as she fumbled with the switch for the vibrator, the low hum filling the room as she started moving faster. Low whimpers and pants filled the room as she rocked closer and closer to climax. "G-god... S-san," she panted, moaning, "Santana..."

"Move closer to the screen," Santana asked, "wanna see."

She swallowed harshly as she inched closer. "If... if I ruin my computer, I will be... be very wroth, S-santana..."

"I'll buy you a new one," Santana smiled, "just put your legs around it so you don't kick it off the bed."

"Th-that's not what I'm worried about," she admitted with a blush as she hooked her ankles around the laptop. "I'm... I'm so close..."

"Go deeper," Santana whimpered, "Please."

"C-can't... b-bottoming out," she whispered, "I'm... G-god, Santana... I think I'm gonna... gonna," she moaned low in her throat as her body started spasming, "C-can't hold on..."

"Let go, baby." Santana whispered, "Come for me."

"Gonna," she gasped, her hips bucking, "gonna ... god... Santana, I don't want to ruin my laptop!" She scooted frantically back on the bed, pushing the laptop back as her body released in a wet gush.

Santana beamed as she saw the dark spot in the bed forming. "Baby," she smiled as she watched her lover's face, "I wish I was there to lick you clean."

Rachel could only lay there, panting as her body tried to recover. "I," she gasped, her hands lying limply on her thighs, dildo still humming softly in her core before she managed to fumble it off again, "I... I wish that too."

"Bring the computer up near your head when you can." Santana said softly, pulling her shirt back on and crawling under the covers. She put the computer on Rachel's side of the bed and waited for the other woman to do the same.

Tired, the lights in the room dimming as the sun set outside, she dragged the laptop up to rest on the pillows beside her. She breathed heavily, trying to regain her equilibrium as she carefully pulled the dildo out with a low whimper and set it aside to wash off. "Hi," she whispered, smiling tiredly when she got back under control. "I really wish you were here to hold me right now, Santana."

"I wish I would be there to hold you ever _every_ night." Santana whispered, "I'm not happy you're gone."

"I'm not either," she admitted softly, rolling to face the screen more directly with a sad smile. "I see a million things I want to share with you and Brooklyn every day if feels like, but I can't because you're back home. It's so lonely out here, Santana. I miss you and Brooklyn so much..."

"She misses you too... I had a fight with Quinn today, it was bad," she admitted. "I was lashing out at her."

"Oh no, Santana," Rachel bit her lip worriedly, her hand making an abortive gesture towards the screen as if to reach out and stroke Santana's cheek, but stopping part way when she realized what she was doing. "Is everything okay? Do you need me to talk to her?"

"I think it's fine now, but... like we each said some bad things," she whispered. "I hate her for rejecting Brooke..."

"I don't think she's rejecting her so much as avoiding her because it's so painfully obvious being around her hurts." Rachel sighed. "I wish I could have gotten her to go to therapy for her depression following Beth's birth when we were together but that was just another thing we fought about..."

"She's going to one in three days." Santana said softly, grabbing one of Brooklyn's bears that was in her bed and cuddled it.

"Seriously?" Rachel's smile was unabashedly happy for the first time since she'd gotten on the plane to LA. "You got her to go? Santana, you are absolutely _amazing_!"

"Yeah, we made a deal." Santana sighed. "She needs to go or she'll ruin things with Ajay."

"You are my hero, Santana Lopez," she cheered. "You have no idea how much I want to kiss you this very instant! I don't know how you did it, but you just single-handedly managed to achieve what I spend _four years_ trying to do. I love you so much right now!"

"Just right now?" Santana muttered. "But, I told her if she went and got help... I would."

"Not just right now, don't be silly, but you are completely my favorite person in the universe at this moment." Rachel smiled at her brightly. "Even more than Barbra or Patti LuPone. If you need assistance, be assured that I will support you as fully as I can in any possible fashion you require. It's just... she's need help for _so_ long and I've never been able to get her to even see that it was destroying her to not address it. Thank you so much, Santana. I think you may have saved our friend's life by doing this."

"Yeah, its not a big deal...hopefully she'll let it work." Santana sighed and hugged the bear, feeling totally alone despite her daughter in the apartment and Rachel talking to her.

"Mmm, Santana, will you do something for me?" Rachel asked softly, looking at her. "Will you please go and retrieve my bottle of body spray from the bathroom and spray my pillow with in and give it a big hug right now? Because if the shooting schedule would just let up a _little_ , I'd fly home to see you... and I might completely have stolen your old WMHS t-shirt to put on a pillow here so I could hug it when I miss you too much."

"I already did before I went to bed," Santana admitted. "Your apartment is very dark at night."

"I know. I don't have a lot of windows. But I have a night light if you want it? It's in my dresser because I don't use it all the time."

"I put it in Brooklyn's room," Santana sighed. "It's not a big deal..." She looked away, shrugging. "Brooklyn likes having her own room."

"I bet. But what about you?" she asked softly. "Are you okay in my room? You know, you can change things to suit you, I don't mind..."

"Your room is fine... Nothing to change."

"I can think of something to change," Rachel murmured softly. "My not being in it with you..."

Santana nodded, her eyes closing to try to prevent the tears that were tying to escape. "I.. I don't like being alone."

"I know how it feels," she admitted. "I wish I could walk in the door right now. Just walk in and crawl into bed with you and never let you go."

"I... I just... I... I know Brooklyn's next door but I feel like I did when... before her." she sniffled, "I don't like being all alone."

"You're not. I promise you're not," Rachel whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "Because I love you. And even if we're physically separated, I'm with you, okay? You can't be alone because you have Brooklyn and you have me... that has to count for something, doesn't it?"

"I know," Santana said. "It helps some... but doesn't make everything go away."

"I know it doesn't. But it'll get better," she whispered, her mind half made up for the crazy plan brewing in her head. "I promise it will."

"I hope... maybe this shrink thing might be for the best." She sighed sadly.

"Maybe. You'll tell me how everything goes?" she asked hopefully. "You know, anything you need to do, I'll support you. Right?"

"I will. I don't go until Monday when Brooke's at camp." She cuddled into her bear and watched Rachel for a minute. "Will you stay on until I fall asleep?"

"Of course," she whispered with a soft smile, "there's no one I'd rather fall asleep with than you, after all. Want me to sing for you?"

"No, that's for Brooklyn... Tell me about something I don't know?" she asked softly.

"Like what?" Rachel smiled lopsidedly. "You've known me practically my whole life, but ask and I'll answer. I'll tell you anything you want to know, Santana."

"Whats your favourite color?" Santana asked tiredly.

"Pink... or sometimes yellow. As you'd know if you looked around my apartment," she teased gently. "I'm very partial to the color gold as well, if you remember. Unfortunately though, there's an aspect of my life in which I'm _not_ a gold star. I really should have taken your advice about Finn, Santana. The only good thing about that affair was it was at least _short_."

"Yeah... I didn't want you to deal with that then fucking Stutters opened her yap..." She said, "But I'm not a gold star either and I've been with more guys than you so you're closer."

"I think it's just the first that counts," Rachel suggested. "Do you suppose the data could be slightly skewed if I admitted that I um," she blushed licking her lips, her voice softening, "imagined you in his place to get through it? I know I shouldn't have, but it was the only way I could climax..."

"I'm impressed you even got there with him... but it's okay. Now you know that I'm like a million times better than Tub-o-lard," she said with a smirk. "He's gross and smelled bad."

"I believe you are _vastly_ underestimating your abilities in the bedroom, Santana." Rachel smirked. "And honestly, if it weren't for that time in New York when I, um... _accidentally_ walked in on you while you were getting out of the shower I doubt I would have even managed to become sufficiently aroused for the entire incident to be at least moderately comfortable. I honestly have pity for whatever woman he manages to ensnare later in life as I'm not entirely certain he knows how to use that particular appendage as anything more than a tool to write his name in the snow with."

Santana chuckled. "He's not important anymore... first times are always bad," she said as she nuzzled the bear.

"You're important," she murmured softly, watching her. "I think maybe if I'd waited for you... well, it might not have been _good_ , but I doubt it would have been _bad_." She chuckled softly. "I had such a crush on you for so long."

"You also had a crush on Quinn, flatterer," Santana said. "But if I wasn't so scared of being gay... then so wrapped up in _her_... I would have liked you back."

"That's sweet," Rachel smirked, "but I'm not sure you would have wanted to be as open as I would have been back then. You do know I tried to convince Kurt to start at Gay/Lesbian Alliance will me right?"

"You're silly," Santana smiled, "and no, I wouldn't have been okay with being out... look where that got me when I finally gave in."

She laughed softly. "I think you could have convinced me to see things your way if you put your mind to it. There were rumors about a certain janitors' closet after all," she winked, teasing her.

Santana raised her eyebrow. "What's this?"

"Or perhaps the choir room at lunch? No one ever went in there while I was practicing," Rachel continued, rubbing her chin as if she was musing over the various private places in their high school. "Though I must say my inner performer is tickled by the idea of the auditorium, while my inner private self thinks that would have been a terrible idea as _anyone_ could have walked in..."

"I've had sex in there... not as fun as you'd think... really dusty." Santana mused, "But the acoustics are great."

"My thoughts exactly, Santana." She grinned at her, then sobered. "Frankly, if you'd asked, I would have been hard pressed not to surrender my virginity to you, Santana. Or well, Quinn, but you had been a crush of mine for far longer so you had precidence."

"Well... I call dibs on you for awhile longer so I win." She yawned. "I wish... I wish I could wake up to you tomorrow."

"Waking up would be difficult," Rachel admitted, now convinced that her crazy idea was necessary, "but I completely share the sentiment. Go to sleep, love. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded, her eyes drooping closed. "Miss you so much." she mumbled as her face tucked behind the teddy bear as she fell asleep.

"More than words can say," Rachel whispered, blowing a kiss towards the image of her sleeping girlfriend before shutting down the connection and moving to set things in motion to make her plan come to fruition.

"Hello, Jan?" she smiled into the phone as she got up and moved to get cleaned up and dressed. "Something's come up at home. Can I get a couple days to take care of it? Promise I'll be back in Sunday night."


	25. Chapter 25

She wasn't sure she'd gotten any sleep - passing out on the plane barely counted - but breathing the sweet - not exactly - tang of New York City air made her feel newly energized. Convincing the director that he didn't need her for a couple days was a pain - and would involve a couple of days where she'd probably be lucky to get fifteen minutes to call Brooklyn and Santana before bed - but it was worth it.

Waving down a cab outside the airport, she pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Santana.

**What are you doing, Santana? Anything interesting? :)**

* * *

Santana held what seemed to be her hundredth cup of coffee of the day in her hand as she headed back over to the small kitchen table and her computer. She had gotten up early with Brooklyn to take her to school so she could go on her field trip to the Bronx Zoo with her camp, but hadn't managed to get back to sleep after she'd come home. She curled her yoga pants covered legs up to her chest as she picked up her phone.

**Hey, what are you doing texting me shouldn't you be working?**

* * *

Smiling to get a quick answer, Rachel pressed the call button and held the phone to her ear. "Hello, Santana. I had some down time and thought I'd chat with you. What's going on? Will Brooklyn be done with school soon today?"

"Little monkey child is with the rest of the little monkeys at the zoo." She smiled as she idly clicked on her computer. "She had a field trip that I shouldn't have reminded her of because she woke me up really fucking early to get ready to see the monkeys."

Rachel laughed. "She sounds excited. What about you? Anything fun for her mom?"

"Nope," Santana said. "Just working. Went in and picked up a few things at the office then came home. What about you? How's the shoot?"

"Oh typical. I swear, romance films are possibly the dullest things to shoot sometimes. I can only stare longingly into Ray's eyes for so long before I burst out laughing from the sheer absurdity. They're doing a couple scenes they don't need me for right now, so I'm just relaxing and talking to my favorite person." She nodded at the driver, handing him a napkin with her address written on it with a smile, mouthing _it's a surprise!_ and pointing at the phone. He nodded, pulling out into traffic.

"That sounds like a glamorous life you lead." Santana smiled. "The paparazzi grabbed a few photos a few days ago of you and Ray," she informed her, "You look good."

"Ugh, don't remind me. The studio told them where we were having lunch. It was so stupid." She shook her head. "But I'm glad we looked sufficiently coupley that the studio hasn't been selling our whereabouts for a while after that. They're leaving you alone though, right? How's the PR coming?"

"It's doing okay." She shrugged, even though Rachel couldn't see her over the phone. "I mean luckily no one is like talking about it much on the web so we're good, but it'll be crazy when the movie starts promoting and the studio gets it's marketing campaign out."

"Probably, but I'm confident you can handle it." She smiled at the driver as he pulled up outside her building, handing him a few twenties to cover the fare and waving at him to keep the change as she got out. Unlocking the front door she headed up. "Maybe I'll talk to Quinn about getting you a raise if you do a good job." Stopping at her door, she hit the mute on her phone and quickly knocked before turning around and unmuting it again.

"Quinn's still angsty cause I'm making her talk to someone about her crazy." Santana smiled only to turn her head and groan when she heard a knock on the door. "What the fuck?"

"What's wrong?" she asked concernedly. "Did something happen?"

"No someone's at the door and I look like hell." She sighed. "Maybe I'll just ignore it."

"Oh. It might be one of my neighbors. They bring things over sometimes. I'm sure however you look, I've answered the door looking worse. Don't worry about it," she reassured her, muting the phone and knocking again, a little louder, before unmuting it once more. "They tend to not go away though. Especially if it's Mrs Peterson from upstairs."

Santana groaned. "Fine," she complained as she unfolded herself and headed over to the door. She opened the lock and pulled the door open a crack. "What?" she asked grumpily, looking out to see if anyone was there.

Rachel hung up the phone and turned around, pulling down the hood on her jacket. "Hi, baby," she murmured with a shy smile. "I wanted to surprise you."

"Holy crap," Santana exclaimed as she pulled the door open the rest of the way, staring at Rachel in shock. "You... you're here?"

"Surprise." She smiled shyly, holding her arms out. "I had a couple days off coming on my shoot and... after last night I just had to see you. Is... is this okay?"

Santana just engulfed Rachel in her arms. She fought back the tears that threatened to fall as she held her. "You're here."

"I'm here," she whispered, burying her face in the crook of Santana's neck and holding her tight. Pushing them inside she kicked the door closed as she kissed Santana's neck. "I love you and I had to be here knowing you were so lonely."

The taller woman backed them further into the apartment without letting go of her. "I missed you so much. Brooklyn is going to be so excited."

"I'll be excited to see Brooklyn when she's home, but right now I'm excited to see you, okay?" Rachel whispered, chuckling softly. "I'm all yours. Not even Quinn knows I'm here right now. I want to make you feel cared for, Santana, and give you whatever you need to know you're not alone."

"Thank you," she whispered, hugging her again.

"Whenever you need me," she whispered, kissing the corner of Santana's jaw again. "I may not always be able to pull something like this off, but... I'm here for you. Okay? And," she rummaged in her purse, pulling out a cute gold star-shaped nightlight, "I got you this for when the room is too dark."

Santana smiled. "I love it. Come help me put it in?" she asked as she tugged Rachel to the bedroom. The apartment was more or less the same except for Brooklyn's toys and photos of the two of them from the old apartment. "I think that it should go here," she said as she put it in the outlet above the nightstand. "That way you're always here," she whispered before wrapping her arms around Rachel's neck. "No one has ever treated me like I was important... you make me feel like that."

"Good," Rachel smiled up at her, "because you _are_ important. I don't know what I'd do without you at this point and I'm not just referring to my schedule either. I need you and Brooklyn in my life to fill up all the empty spaces." She'd enjoyed seeing the signs of the other two living in her apartment when she'd manged to look away from Santana. For the first time since Quinn had left it actually felt like a _home_.

"I don't think we could be without you again," Santana whispered, before cupping Rachel's face and kissing her. "I was so unhappy last night and you just showed up and made it better."

"I'm sorry it'll only be a couple of days. I have to fly back out on Sunday," she smiled sadly as Santana pulled away, "but I had to come. You were so sad last night that I couldn't bear it."

"You didn't have too... I would have been fine," Santana said not wanting her weakness to be the reason Rachel came back.

"I wouldn't have," she admitted softly. "I can't spend the entire time two thousand miles away from the people who make me happy, Santana. I need to be able to touch you, to hug Brooklyn. I need more than a picture on a screen or a voice filtered by speakers. I'm sorry I'm so weak, Santana..."

"You're not weak." Santana sighed, hugging her. "You're so much stronger than me," she said before sitting on the bed and looking up tiredly.

Rachel smiled softly and came over to sit beside her. "I was weak enough that I couldn't sleep last night because I wanted to be on a plane this morning." She took her hand, squeezing it gently. "Weak enough to know how much worse it would have been if I didn't come to spend the weekend at home with you and Brooklyn." She pulled Santana's hand to her lips and brushed them over the knuckles. "We're both strong in our own ways, but I think it's okay to need each other, don't you? I like this bed much better when you're in it," she remarked quietly, smoothing a hand over the bedspread.

"I like it too," Santana said softly. "Can you lie with me?"

She laughed. "Why do you think I willingly placed myself in a germ factory of a commercial plane for the last nearly six hours?" She leaned over and kissed Santana gently. "I can lie with you. And - if you want - we don't have to go so slow anymore I think..."

"After our skype conversation? I'd hope not," she teased and slid back until she was cradled by the pillows, holding her arms out for Rachel. "Get over here, woman."

Rachel laughed and pulled off her jacket and shoes before climbing into bed to wrap her arms around Santana and snuggle into her side. "I missed this," she whispered softly, her forehead lightly pressing against Santana's neck she was so close. "Being close to you like this. Able to hold you..."

"I missed you too," she whimpered. "I... It was so hard when you left... I was scared to be alone again."

"It's inevitable with my career," Rachel admitted, "but I can promise you this is where I want to be no matter where I might be shooting. Okay? I want to be where I can see you and Brooklyn and hug you or kiss you whenever I want. This is where I want to be." She hugged Santana, trying to emphasize that she preferred being in Santana's arms without saying it.

"We like you to be here too." Santana whispered. "Brooklyn is very attached to you by this point. I think she's planning on you being around forever." She smiled. "You know she's going to freak out and maybe have a baby heart attack when she gets home."

She chuckled. "I hope she likes the surprise then because I haven't brought anything but me and that nightlight. You know," she glanced up at Santana shyly, "I'm planning on being around forever too... if you'll let me."

"I'd like that," she said softly as she nuzzled her lover's neck. "I didn't tell Quinn about us."

"I didn't either," Rachel murmured, "but I think she knows anyway. I'm afraid I haven't been moping quite as much since we got back together." She blushed. "She probably noticed. She tends to."

"She's crazy," Santana sighed, "but she went to the shrink and made a second appointment. I think they are interested in medicating her for her depression," she said as she pressed soft kisses down Rachel's neck.

"If she needs it, then we'll accept that," she mumbled, her eyes falling closed as she enjoyed to soft brush of her lover's lips over her skin. "Santana," she warned softly, "that feels exceptionally nice..."

Santana smiled, she pressed her lips to Rachel's pulse and sucked gently.

"Santana," she laughed, batting gently at her, but not pushing her away, "if you leave a mark, I'm going to have a devil of a time hiding it. You do remember I'm shooting a movie, right?"

"I won't leave a mark," she mumbled as she moved back up to Rachel's ear lobe and caught it between her teeth, "where anyone can see."

"You better not," she chided. "If anyone sees the places I want to let you mark me, they'd better be my physician, or they're going to be slapped so hard they'll see more stars than me."

Santana smiled, before sitting up and taking off her t-shirt and throwing it off the bed. She wasn't wearing a bra so she just looked down at Rachel with a smile. "You can keep talking if you want," she added with a smirk.

Rachel shook her head slowly, jaw dropped as her eyes roved over her lover's body. "N-no, thank you," she whispered, fingers jerking from her stunned shock to fumble at the buttons of her shirt, whimpering softly when her fumbling was failing to get them undone fast enough for her taste. "Help," she whimpered.

The taller woman smiled as she slid her fingers over the buttons and slid it off. She smiled when she saw that Rachel wasn't wearing a bra either having been in too much of a rush to get dressed before running out the door to catch her flight that morning. She pressed a kiss to the woman's chest. "Better?"

"I'm with you," she whispered with a shrug and a tiny smile, "it's definitely better. I hope you didn't put my clothes in storage, because I'll have to wear _something_ after this. Santana," she whispered, looking up at her with a shy smile, "can we... make love? Both of us... not just me or you. I want to be _with_ you."

"Yes," she whispered, "I would like that." She moaned softly as she moved her hands down to Rachel's jeans and unbuttoned them.

Rachel whimpered, arching her body to help Santana get her jeans off as she reached to pull the string holding Santana's yoga pants up loose. "I want to feel you against me," she whispered, her fingers sliding into the soft cotton of the pants' waistband and pushing them down.

Santana got off the bed and slid down her pants and panties before tugging Rachel's boyshorts off. She slid her body against Rachel's and smiled at their conjoined warmth. "You feel so good."

She blushed, leaning up for a kiss. "I've missed this most of all," she admitted softly before their lips met.

Santana pressed Rachel back into the pillows and straddled her waist. She could feel her warmth pressing into Rachel's stomach as they kissed. Rachel moaned softly into the kiss, her hands running up and down over Santana's back, pressing her closer to her body as she moved beneath her. Her tongue slid out to caress Santana's lips, asking for more, giving permission as much as she begged for it.

Santana received her tongue, her body arching against Rachel as the kiss deepened. She slid her hands up to the other woman's breasts and stroked them. Rachel whimpered, sliding her hands up from where they'd finally come to rest on Santana's hips to cup and knead the full breasts above her. She knew she wouldn't last long at even this level after as long as they'd been apart but she wanted Santana to have the first attention after last night.

"I," she gasped, pulling away from the kiss, "can I be on top?" She panted, looking up at Santana shyly, "I want... after last night," her cheeks darkened, "I want to give you pleasure first..."

Santana nodded, rolling over and keeping her legs wrapped around Rachel's hips. "Please, I've been turned on since then."

She rolled with her, finally stopping with her hands on either side of Santana's head. "I love you, you know," she whispered, leaning down to kiss Santana with everything she had, their bodies pressing together, Santana's long legs pulling Rachel's body down to grind against her.

The kiss moved from Santana's lips to her neck, lips brushing over tanned skin, nipping and teasing. "I want to taste you," she whispered just before her lips wrapped around her earlobe and sucked. "I want to feel you come around my tongue, Santana..."

She leaned up, pressing her body against Rachel's and moaned. "Please... please," she whimpered, her body humming with pleasure. "I need you."

"You'll have me," Rachel whispered, her lips and teeth blazing a hot trail down the front of Santana's body as she began her slow descent. When they brushed over her breasts, she couldn't help but indulge, sucking and flicking the taut peaks with her tongue as she gently gripped first one then the other between her teeth.

Santana slid her hands into Rachel's hair and arched. "No teasing." she gasped as she tugged on the girl's hair. "Please."

"I'm not teasing," she protested, pulling away from the hard nipple she'd been playing with. "I'm _savoring_." But she smirked and pressed a wet kiss to Santana's abdomen as she began sliding further down towards her goal.

Her legs parted and let Rachel drop down to settle in between her legs. Looking up along Santana's body, Rachel smiled softly and kissed the top of her mound, fingers gently stroking along the fold. "I've been waiting for the chance to do this again since the last time," she whispered, leaning in to run her tongue between her folds, groaning deep in her throat at the taste of her lover's essence coating her tongue.

"Shit," Santana groaned. "God, fuck..." She let her head fall back and her back arch up, her hand fell back into Rachel's hair as she felt her body shudder every few moments with lust.

Rachel smiled, parting her folds with careful fingers to give her better access to her lover's core. "So beautiful," she whispered, stroking Santana from her entrance to her clit with a broad swipe of her tongue. "So _delicious_ ," she groaned, flicking the nub with the tip of her tongue before catching it gently between her teeth and tugging slightly.

"Please... please, Rachel." She whimpered, "Watching you last night... I wanted to come so bad."

She rolled her eyes up to watch her as she slid down and carefully slid her tongue as deep into her as she could go. She lapped at her walls, eyes falling shut to better appreciate the feeling of Santana's muscles squeezing her tongue. The taste of her arousal seeping out of her. Breathing awkwardly through her nose, she moved a hand to flick Santana's clit with her thumb, asking for her climax without words.

Santana's head thrashed to the side, her breath came out in soft pants. "Please..." She groaned, her release coming closer and closer.

Realizing she wasn't giving Santana what she needed, she moved up to suck on her clit while her hand slid down to slide two fingers inside of her, groaning at the feeling of her walls rippling against her fingers as she curled them, pumping in and out while her mouth sucked, nibbled and lashed her clit with the tip of her tongue.

The taller woman moaned and arched her back up as her hips thrust down into Rachel's hand. "H-harder."

She moaned, shivering with her own arousal as she started pumping faster. Frustrated at not being able to move as fast as she wanted in the awkward position she was in, she gave up on trying to keep working her clit and slid up to take a nipple roughly with her mouth as her pace increased between Santana's legs, palm slapping almost roughly against her clit with each thrust, knowing her lover needed it more than the gentle loving she wanted to give her right then.

"Jesus," Santana gasped, her body jumping up to the newly forced touch. Her hands clawed at Rachel's shoulders as her body tightened around the woman's fingers and shook violently with pleasure.

She wanted her. She wanted to convey it with each trembling shudder of her body as she continued to thrust in and out of Santana. She nipped at her breasts, leaving small marks scattered about her chest. She groaned in a mixture of love and lust as she felt Santana clenching around her. As she felt her own hot, slickness moving against a muscular thigh when it pressed against her core accidentally.

With a soft gasp into the air, she released and fell back to the bed. Santana panted as she came down from her high and her eyes blinked open and she looked lazily at Rachel. "Perfect."

Rachel smiled shyly, relaxing against her despite the burning ache in her core to find her own release. "Really?" she murmured softly, fingers still buried in Santana's core as she pressed gentle kisses to her chest and stomach.

"Yes," she whimpered, her body shivering every few minutes. "Come up here?" she asked softly. "Come up and kiss me."

She carefully pulled out of Santana with a soft whimper, hating the feeling of separation, and sucked her fingers clean before crawling up to kiss her softly.

She kissed her softly, her body still in a daze from her orgasm. "Baby, what can I do to you?"

"Whatever you want," Rachel whispered, her lips barely moving from Santana's to answer. "I'm yours. Whatever you want to do to or with me... please. I'm yours, Santana."

She nodded and moved to roll Rachel over onto her back. She kissed down her chest and over her breasts, taking time to lave each nipple with tender kisses. She slid down in between her legs, her mouth kissing anywhere she could as she sucked and nipped on soft flesh.

"Are you sure?" Rachel whispered softly, watching her uncertainly, even as her body clamored and screamed protest at her for slowing things down even a little. "I... I know you haven't with me and you don't have to if you don't want to... I love everything you do, Santana... you don't have to do that unless you want to..."

"I want too," she said softly. "I just haven't done it a lot... so tell me if you want something else," she said as she slipped Rachel's thighs over her shoulders and kissed at her supple flesh. She sucked against tanned skin, hard enough that she knew that she would be littered with bruises on her inner thighs for days after she left their bed again.

Rachel moaned and lifted her hips up off the bed slightly. "I want you... I want it... God, Santana, please? I've wanted it for so long..." She reached down to run a shaking hand through dark hair. "Please... "

Santana hooked her arms around her and parted her folds with her fingers. She kissed her inner thigh along the crease of her hip before sliding her tongue down the woman's cleft.

"God," she whimpered, her hips bucking towards Santana. It didn't matter that she'd climaxed incredibly hard less than twenty four hours previously - that had been alone and now it was _Santana_ touching her. "Please, Santana," she begged, needing her touch, " _please_..."

Santana quickly pulled her lover's stiff clit between her lips and sucked as she batted it with her tongue. She slipped two fingers up under her chin and slid inside her.

The sound Rachel let out was barely human when she felt Santana enter her while her lips and tongue set fire to her clit. She writhed against her lover's mouth and hand, only Santana's firm grip holding her in place. "O- _oh_!" she gasped, eyes snapping open to watch Santana as her fingers tightened in hair and blankets.

The darker woman panted through her nose as she continued to thrust into Rachel. Her wrist aching at the speed that she found made Rachel moan the loudest, she scissored her fingers and curled them to the spot buried deep inside her.

Rachel keened her release, nails digging into Santana's scalp almost painfully as she bucked, her body clamping down on her lover's fingers as the dam inside her broke and let the torrent of her orgasm free. "G- _god_!" she gasped, unable to force out any other concept but that simple plea as she struggled to keep her body from shuddering into a second climax.

Santana sucked greedily as Rachel released, her fingers sliding out and being replaced by her tongue.

She whimpered, losing her fight in the face of another crest. "S-san," she whined as her walls clenched again and again on the thick muscle pressing inside her body.

After a few minutes, Santana pulled away. her jaw ached slightly as she kissed Rachel's thighs. "So amazing."

She tried to laugh but it just came out as a breathless pant as she weakly reached for Santana. "Y- _you're_ amazing," she gasped out with a dazed smile. "I... I can't move."

Santana slid up and laid on her lover's body. "Thank you for coming back."

"I had to," she whispered, snuggling against Santana and yawning sleepily. "I need you to be happy."

* * *

After a well-deserved nap in each other's arms and a shower that only barely managed to stay clean, Rachel and Santana found themselves cuddling on the couch watching the news when they heard the familiar sound of a key in the lock. Rachel grinned teasingly at Santana. "Already gave her a key, hmm?" she whispered, leaning up to kiss her girlfriend.

"It's her big-girl present for being awesome and not fighting about summer school and camp. Plus, Lily's mom is with her." Santana smiled and sat up, watching her daughter struggle with the door.

"Mommy?" Brooklyn called out after managing to push it most of the way open. Santana got up and headed to the door.

"Hey, baby, say think you to Lily's mom and go see the present in the living room." She smiled knowingly as she took her daughter's hat and backpack.

"Thank yous!" she exclaimed before scampering off, excited by the possibility of a present. Santana made small talk with the other mother and smiled when she heard a delighted shriek pierce the air.

"RACHIE!" Brooklyn screamed as she flung herself into the woman's arms.

Rachel was on her knees in the middle of the living room arms tightly wrapped around Brooklyn as soon as the little girl managed to reach her. "Hi, sweetie," she whispered, pressing her face against her neck and trying to hold back her happy tears. "I missed you so much..."

Brooklyn burst into tears and clung to Rachel. "I missed you so much, Rachie! You came home!"

"I came home," she agreed, smiling into the little girl's neck and swallowing hard against the tears trickling down her cheeks. "I can't stay, not yet. I'm sorry, sweetie. I still have work to do in LA. But I had to come see you and your mommy."

"We missed you so much," Brooklyn cried. "I saw monkeys at the zoo, and I kepts thinking how much I wanted my mommies there," she said, not realizing her slip.

"Your mommies?" Rachel whispered softly, her heart clenching as she got her first glimpse of just how very okay she'd be with the idea of this little girl thinking of her as one of her _moms_.

Brooklyn sniffled and wiped her eyes as she clung one fist into Rachel's shirt. "Mommy means someone you love that loves you no matter what," she whispered. "I gots no daddy so I can has two mommies right?" she whispered into Rachel's neck.

"Of course you can, sweetie," Rachel assured her, "but talk to your mommy first, okay? I would _love_ to be one of your mommies, but I need your mommy to be happy with it first. Can you be a big girl and do that for me?"

She nodded, and clung to the older woman. "I'm so happy you home. You make mommy smile."'

"I like making you and your mommy smile," she whispered, picking her up to better cuddle-hug her as she moved them to the sofa. "The two of you make me smile too. I'm happiest when I'm home."

Brooklyn smiled and wiped her eyes. Santana came in and sat on the couch and watched them interact.

"Happy to have Rachel here, baby girl?" she asked as she took down her daughter's ponytail.

"Uh-huh," she mumbled against Rachel's shoulder as she snuggled into her arms. "I don't wants you to ever leave again, Rachie..."

Rachel winced slightly, knowing she'd have to leave Sunday morning and would only have the night and tomorrow with them. "I wish I could stay, sweetie... I still have work though. And you and your mom are going to come and visit me in LA, right?"

"Yes," she said softly, her thumb finding it's way into her mouth.

"Brooke... no thumb," Santana said softly as she batted it away from her lips. Brooklyn pouted and played with the collar of Rachel's shirt. "Rachel will go back to work on Sunday, but she will still keep calling every time she can and we will visit her soon."

"I don't like when she's gone though," Brooklyn pouted unhappily. "You not happy, Mommy. And I'm sad too."

"I know, baby girl," Santana smiled, "But because Rachel's an actor she needs to do her job like you have to go to school. She'll be back, and we'll go see her."

"I don't like when I'm gone either, sweetie," she murmured softly, kissing the top of the little girl's head as she leaned into her mom. "I hate not being able to hug you or be with you and your mom like this."

"Hurry up and get work done fast, Rachie," Brooklyn whimpered, burying her face in Rachel's neck.

"I'll try, sweetheart. Promise. I'll work extra hard so I can come home to you and your mom as soon as I can." Rachel smiled sadly down at her, running her fingers through her hair. "But we'll have fun when you come to visit. You like LA, right?"

"We go to beach and go swimming," she said softly, nodding. "I like swimming."

Santana smiled and ran her fingers through the girl's hair. "You're a brave girl. I wouldn't have gone swimming in the ocean when I was your age. You're so brave."

Brooklyn looked up at her mom with wide eyes. "Ocean's scary? Rachie, you didn't say ocean's scary!"

"It's fine, sweetie," Rachel reassured her, rolling her eyes at Santana with a little smirk. "Your mommy and I will be with you the whole time you're in the water, okay?"

"Rachel's right." Santana smiled. "You know mommy doesn't like to get her hair wet," she said as she kissed her daughter's hand.

"You too fancy, mommy," Brooklyn mumbled as she poked her mom's nose.

"Entirely too fancy," Rachel teased. "You should swim with us. I'll even help you wash your hair after," she smirked up at her, her head coming back to rest against Santana's shoulder, "if you want."

Brooklyn clapped. "Yay, you swim with us." She smiled and wrapped Rachel's arms around her stomach. "I had fun at the zoo, wish you could have come Mommy and Rachie."

"Unfortunately, I didn't get home until after you'd already left," Rachel pouted. "But maybe next time, okay?"

"We can go when you are home for good." She smiled. "Did you sees my room? It's _huge_!"

"Is it?" she asked with a soft smile, brushing her fingers through her hair. "Do you like having your own room?"

"Yup," Brooklyn smiled, "but I have to get up and walk far to cuddle with mommy in the morning." She pouted but smiled at her mom. "Mommy likes her room." Santana sighed and smiled strongly.

"Well, I hope so," Rachel teased, smiling at Santana softly. "I tried to make it extra comfy. But can you do me a big favor while I'm gone for work, Brooklyn?"

"What?" Her eyes got big and she looked at Rachel.

"Do you think you could snuggle with your mom in her room when she's sad instead of sleeping in your room?" she asked softly, knowing that Santana could hear her, but trying to make it seem like a secret between her and Brooklyn. "I don't want her to be lonely, so it'd make me super happy if you'd give her extra hugs and cuddles while I can't, okay?"

Brooklyn blinked. "Mommy never sad. She's mommy," she said confusedly, looking at her mom worriedly. "Mommy? Not sad right?"

"No, baby, Mommy just likes cuddles with her baby." She smiled as she fought back her tears.

"You're right," Rachel smiled reassuringly up at Santana, wanting to kiss her but not knowing if that was okay in front of Brooklyn, "but she misses me while I'm gone, right? So whenever you think Mommy's missing her Rachie lots or when _you're_ missing me lots, you just crawl in bed with her and cuddle your mom extra good, okay? And when I get back, I'll pay you back in extra cuddles too. How's that sound?"

"Okay!" Brooklyn smiled and crawled into her mom's lap. "I love you, mommy, and cuddle you lots and lots."

"I love you too, baby." She smiled as she kissed all over her face.

"Ah!" Brooklyn laughed, squirming away. "Too many kisses!"

Rachel laughed softly watching the two play with each other. She caught her lip between her teeth, smiling gently as they laughed with each other. At that moment, she wanted nothing so much as to ask Santana to stay when she came back. To make the apartment a home. But she knew it wasn't time, so she just hugged the two most important girls in her life.

"I'm so happy I'm home," she whispered, leaning up to kiss Santana's cheek before dropping a kiss on top of Brooklyn's head, "with my two favorite girls in the whole world."

Santana giggled and whispered on Brooklyn's ear and the child pounced on Rachel and kissed all over her face. "Kiss attack!"

"Ack!" Rachel cried, laughing as she fell back into Santana's lap, squirming under the kisses from the happy little girl. "Too many kisses! Stop!" She laughed, trying to wiggle away. "Stop! I yield!"

The woman leaned down and kissed Rachel's lips softly. "Never too many kisses," she whispered, as Brooklyn snuggled into Rachel's body.

Rachel looked up at Santana with a hopeful smile. "Never?" she whispered, hoping that the open display of affection in front of Brooklyn meant an acceptance of them being together more officially. "Do you promise, Santana?"

"Promise," she said looking up and seeing Brooklyn watching. "What'cha looking at, shorty?"

"You kissed Rachie, Mommy." She smiled at Santana, hugging Rachel and bouncing slightly in excitement. "That mean you and Rachie are like Auntie Q and Uncle Jay now?"

"Mmhmm," Santana said. "You cool with that?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "Can Rachie be my mommy too? I love her lots like you, Mommy."

Rachel blushed, not having realized that Brooklyn would push this particular line of conversation so soon. "Brooklyn, Santana's your mommy," she offered lamely, closing her eyes not wanting to hear Santana tell her daughter that wasn't possible.

"H-how about she be your Rachie for now and we think 'bout that when she's back from LA?" Santana stammered. "I know you love her, beautiful."

"But I love her lots and lots," Brooklyn pouted.

"Brooklyn, it's okay." Rachel smiled up at her, not really believing she'd heard Santana being open to the possibility. "I'll always be your Rachie, right? We got to be little together, right?"

"But... Mommy," she whimpered. "Mommy loves Rachie... Rachie loves mommy... and everyone loves me." She furrowed her brow, thinking hard. "Why? I has no Daddy... Why can't Rachie be that?"

"Because, baby's can't pick their parents... and Mommy needs to think okay?" Santana sighed.

"But..." Brooklyn's face crumpled and she looked like she was going to cry for a moment until Rachel bounced her.

"Brooklyn, I can't be your mommy because," she thought fast, "because your mommy and I aren't married. We _might_ get married someday, but right now we're just like Uncle Jay and Aunt Quinn, okay? Just dating to see if we like each other enough to get married." She cupped her cheek, encouraging her to look at her and smiled big. "But no matter what, I will always love you, Brooklyn. _Always_. And I'll always be your Rachie. And that's special because even if I have a little boy or girl someday, they won't get to call me their Rachie. Only you and your mom. Okay?"

Brooklyn sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "Can I take my bath now?" she asked softly.

"Sure," Santana sighed, "go get your robe and toys."

Brooklyn climbed down off the couch and padded quietly into her room to get her things. Rachel sighed sadly, watching her walk off as she sat up.

"I'm so sorry, Santana... I promise I didn't put her up to that," she whispered, biting her lip nervously.

"I know," Santana said. "She gets attached... I saw it coming." She pursed her lips in thought for a moment before leaning over and kissing Rachel's cheek. "I'm not upset, I... it's just fast and I can't handle it."

"I don't mind her being attached," Rachel admitted softly. "I don't plan on going anywhere after all and I do love her very much. I... I don't know if I'm ready to be called a _mom_ , but... it feels... nice to know she loves me that much." She sighed and leaned over to rest her head on Santana's shoulder. "I'll do whatever you want, Santana. You're her mother. You know what's best."

"You'd think that," she smiled sadly, "but something I learned early was that most of this is a shot in the dark." She stood up. "I should get the wee one's bath ready."

"Do you want any help?" Rachel asked softly, offering Santana the choice to handle her child alone or with her help. "I," she licked her lips, looking up shyly, "Santana, is it okay if I slept with you instead of on the futon like I did before I left?"

"You can help and you know I don't want to sleep alone," Santana said as she extended her hand.

Taking Santana's hand with a smile, Rachel climbed to her feet and headed into the bathroom to help with Brooklyn's bath.

* * *

Santana laid back in the hot summer sun. She had gotten up early and packed a picnic for Rachel, Brooklyn and herself to share during the afternoon. They had gone to see a children's play in Central Park before heading out on their own with their picnic and the new kites that Rachel had decided every little girl needed.

The darker woman, leaned up on her elbows her aviator sunglasses shielding her eyes from the sun as she watched Rachel and her daughter running up and down the patch of grass trying to get their kites to lift off.

It wasn't working. Somehow, no matter what they did, they couldn't get the kites to fly. But Rachel didn't care. For one of the few times in her life, she felt truly carefree as she ran around with her lover's daughter, laughing and failing completely to actually _fly_ the kites they were playing with.

"Up!" Brooklyn crowed, darting off down the hill and trying to get her kite up again, "Rachie, help!"

Rachel laughed and dropped her kite down beside Santana. "Lot of help you are, love," she teased. "Watch my kite and try not to fall asleep or I'm writing _Property of Rachel Berry_ on that gorgeous belly of yours in sunscreen."

"You just wish you could be this tan," Santana said as she took her glasses down and winked. "Go chase after your midget friend... this was your idea."

Rachel chuckled. "Don't say I didn't warn you," she teased, kneeling down to steal a kiss before taking off down the hill to scoop Brooklyn up and twirl her around for a moment before trying to help her get her kite up.

"Tinys." Santana shook her head with a laugh as she took out the water container for when they came over.

It was another fifteen minutes before they came over with Brooklyn perched on Rachel's shoulders only to swing down like a little monkey and flop over her mom's stomach as Rachel all but collapsed beside her with a happy grin.

"That was fun," she panted, " even if we never did get the kite up."

"Kite was broken," Brooklyn pouted as she grabbed the water bottle and took a big drink, "but Rachie ran around with me." She smiled as she chugged it. "Yum water." She grinned mischievously and poked her mother's tummy.

"No poking!" Santana giggled, squirming away. "You know the rules."

"Don't poke Mommy?" Brooklyn asked, with a very Santana like expression.

"Yes."

"What about _tickling_ Mommy?" Rachel asked curiously, inching closer with a mischievous smile.

"You do it, you get hurt," Santana warned. "Don't, Rachel..."

"Are you threatening me, Santana?" she asked with a deceptively sweet smile, her fingers edging closer to Santana's stomach.

"Brooklyn! Save mommy!" Santana shrieked when she saw Rachel not backing down.

Rachel laughed and pounced on Santana, pinning her hips down with her legs and running her fingers teasingly lightly over over sensitive stomach. "Brooklyn, help me! Let's teach her to not come help us fly our kites!"

Brooklyn rolled off, giggling hysterically. Santana tried to curl into herself with little luck. "Brooke! I birthed you! You lived in my belly!" She gasped for air. "Help mommy!"

"No, help me!" Rachel laughed, tickling Santana even more. "She just laid here and _tanned_ while we were running around having fun so now we have to make her laugh even _more_!"

The little girl looked happy to just watch and see what happened. Santana finally flopped over onto her stomach under Rachel. "Not fair!" Santana exclaimed.

"Why not?" Rachel cooed, leaning down until her lips were brushing the rim of Santana's ear as she ran her fingers lightly up and down her sides.

"No tickling, it's a rule," she panted, trying to catch her breath.

"That's not very fun," she murmured, sprawling on Santana's back, much to the amusement of the little girl watching. "Tickling is the best kind of punishment. Don't you think, Brooklyn?"

"Yes." She smiled as she rolled onto her back and pressed her face against Santana's. "Hi, mommy."

"Hi, baby." Santana laughed. "You having fun laughing at me?"

"Uh-huh." She grinned cheekily. "I like when Rachie makes you laugh. You smile all big and super happy."

Rachel grinned, leaning over to kiss Santana's cheek. "See? I win."

"Are you two gonna gang up on me?" Santana huffed. "Not fair."

"Totally fair," Rachel argued rolling off of Santana so she could sit up. "Tiny people have to stick together. Right, Brooklyn?"

"Right, but I on mommy's team too sometimes... because she's mommy and doesn't let me have cookies if I don't," Brooklyn stated.

Rachel laughed, reaching to give Brooklyn a hug. "Me too. We're both on Mommy's team sometimes. Especially when anyone tries to hurt her, right?" She smiled lopsidedly at Santana, "The three of us against the world sounds like a good deal to me."

Brooklyn beamed and snuggled into them. "Mommy pile."

"Best kind," Rachel whispered, her arms around her favorite people and her head on Santana's shoulder.


	26. Chapter 26

The office was decorated in shades of tan, gold and ivory. The furniture was soft, inviting. It looked warm, almost like someone's den. A place to relax and get comfortable. Except it was such a jarring contrast from the beige and steel waiting room that it was hard to forget that it was a doctor's office.

"Hello, Santana." The woman's voice was soft, smoothly modulated to be a comforting and relaxing as possible. She smiled as she came into the room, heading over to the other loveseat of the two in the room. "I'm Doctor Paula Reynard. You can call me Paula, Doctor Reynard, Doc or whatever else suits you as long as it's not derogatory." She smiled at Santana, smoothing out her tan slacks before taking a seat. "So, why don't you tell me a bit about why you've come in today?"

Santana crossed her legs and laid her hands in her lap. "I made a deal with my friend Quinn that if she went to a shrink, I would." She shrugged.

"I... see," she murmured, leaning back in her seat and observing Santana. "So there's nothing at all you'd like to work on? No relationship troubles, stress related issues, no work problems or anything?" She shrugged. "This is your time, Santana. We can talk about whatever you want or just sit here and stare at each other. Whatever happens, it won't leave this room unless you want it to though. You have my word and the legal bounds of doctor-patient confidentiality."

"What do people normally talk about in here?" she asked. "I don't really like talking about myself."

"Well, it depends on the person," Paula offered. "Some people talk about things in their past that made them feel bad. Some talk about problems they're having with their partners or children. Some people discuss anxieties they have about the future or troubled dreams. I've even heard of one person who just pays a therapist to have someone to discuss sports with." She smiled. "Not one of mine though I can only imagine how that might go. But you can talk about any of that or none of it if you want, Santana."

She crossed her legs. "You can use this hour to rant about things you see as unjust in your life. Or to rail about any frustrations you might have. I'm not here to change you, Santana. Just to listen and offer you a safe place to work through your problems with whatever assistance you might need."

Santana shrugged. "I'm not having any problem with my child... I don't talk to my parents and my job is fine," she said not really knowing what to talk about. "I don't like sports other than soccer but whatever..."

"No relationships?" She raised a brow, looking surprised. "I would have though that someone as young and attractive as you would have no problem in finding a partner, but so long as you are happy, I suppose I have no room to inquire. What about your parents though? You say you don't talk to them? Why is that?"

"I have a girlfriend, but that's really not an issue anymore," she said. "And I don't talk to my parents because they disowned me when I was seventeen."

"Your girlfriend... isn't an issue?" She blinked slowly. "Alright then... so your parents disowned you when you were seventeen? That seems overly harsh. Was it because of your apparent attraction to women? Perhaps your girlfriend had some part in it?"

"No, my girlfriend and I have only been together for a few months," Santana stated. "They kicked me out because after I had told them I was gay because I was outted to the entire state of Ohio, I told them I was pregnant."

"Outted to the entire _state_?" She looked both shocked and appalled. "Good Lord, Santana, where did you _live_?"

"Lima, Ohio." She shrugged. "Being gay, not really kosher... especially if you've got a rep as the town slut," she said. "Some douche outted me in the hallway and then some little bitch told her dad who was running for the House of Representatives against my cheerleading coach."

"Oh, how," her lip curled as she tried to come up with a suitable term, " _lovely_. The place sounds vile. I suppose it was the typical sort of bigoted backwater small town found in the Midwest? Small-minded America, indeed."

"Yep. Then I got knocked up and so my immigrant Catholic family couldn't handle it." She shrugged. "So we bounced and came to New York."

"We?" she asked curiously, shifting slightly to find a more comfortable spot in her seat. "I'm assuming this regards you and your... child's father?"

"Nope, me and my daughter," she said. "He doesn't know I got pregnant. It was a drunken mistake sleeping with me."

"Ah. I see. And how do you feel about that, Santana?" she asked. "I can't imagine you were fully prepared for that chain of events."

"Uh... I mean I love my kid. She's the best thing I've ever done..." She swallowed and reached for her water bottle and took a drink. "But yeah. Getting knocked up wasn't really my plan. Having sex with him wasn't really part of the plan ether but I got drunk... and he thought I was his girlfriend."

"That sounds like a terrible mess for everyone involved." Paula sighed, deciding to try changing the subject. "What about now? You say you have a girlfriend. How is she with your daughter?"

"She's wonderful with Brooklyn. " Santana smiled. "She's really good at interacting with her and loves her and that means lot since I didn't think I'd ever be able to give Brooklyn that kind of stability."

She smiled. "She sounds like a wonderful woman, Santana. How about you though? How is she with you? Any problems?"

"We're good... I technically work for her and she's currently in California shooting a movie." Santana shrugged. "We have issues, mostly on my end... but whatever we'll figure them out."

Paula's eyes widened. "You _work_ for her? Santana, are you at all certain as to the health of this relationship that you're pursuing with her? Employee and employer relationship dynamics rarely work out after all."

"I'm her personal assistant," Santana said. "Plus we knew each other years ago back in Ohio." She looked up and shrugged again. "We're figuring it out."

"You knew her in... Ohio. In that miserable place you grew up?" She looked distasteful at the idea. "Santana, how do you know things are honest and open? It doesn't seem likely that you'd know someone else comfortable enough in their sexuality that came out of a place that would willingly attempt to destroy a child for political gain."

She furrowed her eyebrows, "I don't understand what you're asking me."

"Are you certain you're not being used for some unhealthy purpose?" she explained. "Is she with you legitimately?"

"Why would she do that? Rachel has two gay dads... and she's been with women before." Santana looked absolutely perplexed.

Paula blinked, surprised. "She has... two gay fathers? Are you certain you knew each other in that vile little town you're from? It doesn't sound like the sort of place two men could raise a daughter together."

"They kept it quiet when they moved in... then shit got bad for her. She went through her own stuff like I did." Santana sighed. "That's why we left... When I left I didn't tell anyone. She went off to college and just never went back."

"Sounds like a good plan," she murmured. "So you were... friends, I take it?"

"Kinda." Santana sighed. "Look I really, really don't wanna talk about high school..." She said, "It wasn't a great time for me."

"Alright." She nodded. "So what about now? How would you describe you relationship with Rachel at this point?"

"Good," she said, with a soft smile. "We've worked through some of our issues and she loves me and Brooklyn," Santana said softly. "She's very good with her."

"And with you?" she asked softly. "I understand she's good with your child, but how is she with the mother?"

"She loves me," Santana said simply. "She flew back from California for a weekend just because I was sad last month."

"That's impressive," she murmured. "I'm glad she loves you that much. But why were you feeling sad last month?"

"I don't enjoy being alone. We just moved and Brooke has her own room."

"You feel alone without Rachel or Brooklyn with you?" Paula asked curiously. "You're not comfortable being by yourself?"

"Uh... I guess," she said as she pulled her knees up to her chest. "I don't think anyone likes being by themselves."

"Well, no. But most of us tolerate it fairly well when we must. Why does it make you sad, Santana?"

"I just don't like to be alone," she mumbled, "Why is that such a big deal?"

"It's not an exceptionally big deal in the grand scheme of things," Paula shrugged, resting an elbow on the arm of the loveseat so she could lean her head against it, "but it apparently made you sad enough to make your girlfriend fly out from California. If she's filming a movie, I'm going to assume she's an actress of some nature and likely will be gone for extended periods in the future as well. So this is probably an area we could work on if you'd like."

"How?" she asked softly. "I've never been good at being alone. I just... I didn't like being all alone in the room and not being able to make sure Brooklyn was safe or knowing where Rachel was. I don't like thinking they would forget about me."

"Now see? That is something we can work on." She smiled at Santana. "You have understandable fears, likely stemming from becoming a parent at such a young age, but we can work together to give you methods of coping with these fears so that they don't overwhelm your emotional state. Do you think that's something you'd like to work on with me?"

"S-sure," she said softly. "I don't really want to fuck things up with Rachel or hurt my daughter with me not being able to handle myself." She sighed. "I don't want Brooklyn growing up like me."

"I'm certain your child will grow up knowing she's loved, Santana," Paula assured her, smiling gently. "Maybe eventually your Rachel could join us for a session and we can all work together to help relieve your fears, alright?"

"She's pretty busy," Santana said. "Acting and everything, I doubt she'll want to come. She wasn't really interested in me coming."

"I thought you said she loves you," she murmured. "Have you talked to her about your coming to therapy? Or," she smirked slightly, having an idea of Santana's personality, "did you mention it in passing and act like it wasn't a big deal?"

"She was happy that Quinn was going. She tried to get her to go when they were dating," Santana remarked.

"Ah," Paula nodded. "So your friend Quinn is her ex. I assume they're still close from what you're saying. But you're avoiding the question, Santana. Did you tell her specifically that _you_ were going to therapy? As anything more than contingency to your friend going to therapy, that is."

"Yes," Santana said. "I mean, I guess so. She didn't really seem to care."

"Hmm." She leaned forward. "Well, your hour is just about up, so how about you consider asking her directly how she feels about it and consider her response before our next meeting?" She got up and walked over to her desk, checking a planner. "Let's see, I can see you once a month or every two weeks. What would you be more comfortable with?"

"Um, I guess once a month for now... How often are you seeing Quinn?" Santana asked not sure of a time frame.

Paula glanced up from her planner, raising a brow. "You know I can't tell you that, Santana. The same as I won't be telling her anything about you or your sessions. I take doctor-patient confidentiality very seriously after all. How about we start at once a month and if you feel you need to meet with me more than that, we'll talk about changing the schedule?"

"Sure," Santana said as she stood up. "Thanks," she added, pulling her bag over her shoulder.

"Santana?" She smiled at her as she looked up from penciling her next appointment into her planner. "You're not in a bad place. There's nothing wrong with you that needs fixing. All we're going to be doing is giving you the tools to keep things in place and keep you balanced."

"Alright. See ya," she said as she left the office and headed to go pick Brooklyn up.

* * *

Barely fifteen minutes after she walked out the door, Santana's phone was ringing.

"Santana?" Rachel's voice crackled over the speaker once she answered. "So how'd it go?"

"Hey, you." Santana smiled as she sat on the steps in front of her daughter's school. "It was okay. What's wrong, are you okay?"

"No, I'm fine," she reassured her, "but I may have peeked at your calendar to see when your appointment was so I could call you after. I'm on a break between scenes at the moment. Everything went well? Do you like her? It is a woman, right? What am I saying, of course it is! I can't even imagine you being comfortable enough with a man for therapy to be any help."

"Yeah, she's good," Santana said softly, smiling at Rachel's familiar rambling. "I'm gonna like see her once a month a guess... I don't really like talking to people about things. Especially about Lima."

"Understandable. Even I have trouble talking about Lima sometimes and I've been in therapy practically since I could talk it feels like sometimes," Rachel agreed. "I'm glad you're talking to someone though, Santana." Her smile could practically be heard through the phone. "It feels like you're really trying to make us work by getting help, even if we are hopefully a very small part of the things which might be troubling you. Anything you need me to do to help you, just let me know, okay?"

"I know." Santana smiled. "How's shooting going? Are you drinking lots of water and eating?"

"Having a salad and drinking a large bottle of water as we speak," she chirped. "How's Brooklyn?"

"She's hell on wheels, but she's good." Santana smiled. "She was reading to me last night. She's getting really good at it already. She's so smart."

"Really?" Rachel asked wistfully. "I wish I could have been there. I miss you two so much out here. How much longer until you're coming out to stay with me? And please say you'll stay for at least a week. Please?"

"We're flying in on Saturday and leaving the next Sunday," Santana said as she leaned against the stairs. "Brooklyn's really excited."

" _I'm_ excited," Rachel admitted, the sound of happy clapping coming through the phone. "I can't wait to see you! I hate sleeping without you there."

"Hate sleeping without you too," she said softly. "I don't like doing anything without you."

Over two thousand miles away, Rachel sighed softly with a sad smile, leaning against the wall of her trailer. "I wish you were here already," she admitted quietly. "Or I was there. I feel like a soldier on deployment." She laughed softly. "That's a bit melodramatic, I suppose."

"Little bit," she smiled, "but I get it." Santana looked up and saw Brooklyn coming to her. "Baby, talk to little baby," she said as her daughter fell into her lap.

"Hi, Rachie!" Brooklyn chirped as she settled into Santana's lap.

"Hi, sweetie!" She did her best to banish the sadness from her voice and sound upbeat and chipper for the little girl. "How was school?"

"Good! We're coming to see you soon! I'm so excited." She smiled and bounced. "I can't want to go to the beach!"

She laughed softly. "I can't wait either. Think we can get your mommy to swim with us or do you think we'll have to take her to a pool instead?"

"Both!" She smirked as she looked up to Santana. "We get her a hat for her hairs."

Rachel laughed happily, only to frown when she heard a knock on her trailer door. "Ms Berry, five minutes until we need you on set," came through muffledly. She sighed. "Sweetie, I have to go back to work now. Give Mommy a kiss for me?" She smiled wistfully, holding the phone against her ear. "I love you, Brooklyn. I'll try to call tonight but it might not be for long since I'll be working, okay?"

"Love you too! Bye bye!" Brooklyn made a kissing sound and hung up the phone before hugging her mom. "Can we get ice creams?"

"Sure." Santana smiled, picking her up and holding her against her hip. "Tell me about school."

"It was good!" Brooklyn chirped, "We gots to learn about the stars today!"

* * *

Six hours on a plane - plus the time difference that made things even more confusing - was not the most fun to have with a little girl, but they were finally coming in on descent to LAX. Rachel had managed to text Santana that she was shooting a scene in the morning and couldn't get free but that Ray's boyfriend, Jack, would be landing right before them and he'd offered to give them a ride to the duplex condos where the stars were living. A photo of a friendly and fairly unassuming young man in a Cowboys' t-shirt accompanied the text to let them know what he looked like, despite Santana and Brooklyn meeting him two weeks earlier to talk about the trip.

Santana sat Brooklyn on the large wheeling trolly in which their two suitcases were on. They had left early, which meant they had to leave the apartment even earlier to get the JFK to get through security. Brooklyn was not a happy little girl. She was tired, cranky and annoyed that Rachel wasn't picking them up. Santana looked around for Jack, pushing up her glasses into her hair as she looked around.

The man spotted them from where he was grabbing his bag off the carousel and waved. "Santana!" Hurrying over he gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. "I'm glad you're here. Ready to head to the condo?"

"Sure," Santana said. "Is it far? Because my daughter needs to get some food and take a nap." Brooklyn looked over and crossed her arms.

"Why is Rachie not here?" she asked petulantly. "No nap 'til Rachie."

"Brooke," Santana warned as they headed toward the exit.

"It's LA." Jake shrugged. "It could take a while. Depends on traffic. We can stop and get something for the little one on the way if you want."

"I have some snacks in my bag." Santana sighed, slightly disappointed Rachel wasn't there even though she knew she wouldn't be. "It will hold her over." She let Jake grab a taxi as she picked up her daughter and kissed her head. She slid into the car and rubbed her hand down her child's back. "Close your eyes."

"Don't wanna." Brooklyn pouted, upset and cranky. "Want Rachie, Mami. Where's Rachie?"

"She's at work. I told you she couldn't pick us up remember," Santana said softly. "We're going to her house and wait for her."

"It won't be long and I'm sure she'll be home soon since she knows you're coming," Jake murmured, holding the door open for the cab after getting their bags all loaded. "Are we all set? No need for detours?"

"Nah." Santana smiled. "Thanks for waiting," she said softly as she held her daughter close. "Brooklyn? Do you want some of your fish crackers?"

"Fishies?" Brooklyn asked softly, leaning against her mom. "Will Rachie be home when we get there?"

"I hope so," Santana said as she grabbed the baggie of crackers and opened it. "Here baby, munch on those we'll get you some lunch at Rachel's."

Jake smiled over at the two of them and leaned up to promise the driver an extra twenty if he could get them to the address sooner.

* * *

Pulling up in front of the simple duplex unit nearly an hour later felt like forever to the tiny and tired little girl in the backseat. She wiggled when she felt them stop, her eyes opening.

"We home?" she mumbled. "Rachie?"

Before the doors to the cab could open, the door leading into the lower level of the duplex opened and Rachel stepped out with a bright grin, waving at the cab as Jake paid the driver. "Santana, Brooklyn, Jake! So wonderful you could make it!"

Brooklyn waited for Santana placed her on the sidewalk before bolting into Rachel's arms. "Rachie!" she cried happily, throwing herself into the woman's arms. "We came!"

"You did!" Rachel cheered, catching her and spinning her up in the air before hugging her tight. "I missed you so much!"

Jake got their bags out and headed inside with them, planning to give his own greeting to Ray once he got inside and away from potentially prying eyes. "Come on, everyone. No need to stand out here and keep the poor taxi driver waiting on us."

Santana got inside and closed the door before pulling Rachel into a tight hug, "Hi," she whispered, sounding exhausted.

"Hi," Rachel mumbled against her neck, breathing in the fresh smell of her while Brooklyn happily cuddled between them. "Would it be entirely untoward to request an extended nap? I've been shooting all morning to get this afternoon off to be with you two."

"Yes please, but can I get some food into Brooklyn? Damn domestic flights don't feed you anymore," she muttered. "So she's really crabby and hungry."

"I have some vegan lasagna left over from dinner last night, would that work?" Rachel asked curiously, tugging them towards the kitchen as Jake smiled and took his leave to head upstairs to his boyfriend's condo.

"Nut free?" she asked as she took a tired Brooklyn's hand and led her inside, smiling when Rachel got her a juice box.

"Of course it is, Santana." She rolled her eyes. "I made it myself. And honestly, do you really think I'd knowingly offer Brooklyn anything that would make her sick?" she asked, pulling the pan out of the fridge and sliding a small serving for Brooklyn and Santana onto two plates before popping it in the microwave to heat.

"I know, I know." She smiled putting the girl on a stool at the island. "I'm so beat. We had to leave at four from the apartment."

"Ouch." Rachel winced, getting the plates out of the microwave and setting them in front of them with a couple of forks. "There we are. Just eat and we'll go nap, okay? Actually," she chuckled softly, "if you want to sleep until morning, I don't think I'd mind at all at this point. Even if it is barely noon."

Brooklyn started idly poking her food. "Brooke, five bites please then we can sleep," Santana pleaded, as she took her own bite. "Well, we will see how sleeping goes."

Brooklyn ate a fork full and grimaced. "Mommy," she whined, but Santana gave her a look and she just took another bite ruefully. "Thank you for food, Rachie."

"You're welcome, sweetie." Rachel chuckled softly, knowing the little girl probably wasn't loving it. "We'll make real macaroni and cheese together for you and your mom after our nap, okay?"

She nodded and took another bite then drank her juice. She managed four bites the looked up to Santana who had forced down half of the piece. "Mommy, sleep now?"

Santana nodded. "Lead us to a bedroom, Rach," she said with a tired smile.

Rachel cleaned their plates off and wiped the counters down before scooping Brooklyn up. "Do you mind napping with your mommy and me, Brooklyn?" she asked, leading them down the hall towards the back bedroom that Rachel had claimed because it could get darker than the one further up the hall. "I have a room for you to sleep in if you want to sleep by yourself though."

"Want to sleep with you," she mumbled as Santana stripped her down to her underwear and t-shirt. Santana pulled off her jeans and crawled into the bed with Brooklyn in a tank top and boyshorts. "Tired..."

"I know, babe, you just close your eyes."

Already dressed in lounging clothes, Rachel just crawled into bed and wrapped her arms around both of them with a happy sigh. "I've missed you two so much," she whispered, snuggling and already growing sleepy.

"Shush," Brooklyn whined, "sleep time." Santana just shook her head and leaned over to kiss Rachel softly.

Rachel smiled softly. "Welcome home," she whispered, relaxing into sleep with her arms around her girls.

Santana drifted off to sleep with her daughter and girlfriend in her arms.


	27. Chapter 27

It was bright, sunny, and smelled distinctly of the salty tang of the ocean. Seagulls screamed noisily overhead as they clamored for a bit of food, but the small beach Rachel had taken them to was private enough that the roar of the surf against the breakers further out wasn't completely drowned by the noise of other beach goers. She turned to Santana and Brooklyn with a big smile, holding her straw hat in place with one hand, the breeze flipping her light sarong around her hips.

"So? What do you think?"

Brooklyn stood in her one piece bathing suit with rainbow stripes as Santana slathered her in what seemed to be her fifteenth coat of sunscreen. She had her hair up in a tight ponytail as she looked at the waves with wide eyes. "It's so _big,_ " Brooklyn said.

"Mmhmm. We'll be with you the entire time though, baby." Santana smiled, from where she knelt in the sand in her purple bikini top and a pair of loose fitting cargo shorts.

"And we'll stay in the shallows, right, Santana?" Rachel asked to confirm the plan they'd made last night. "Don't worry, Brooklyn. I promise to stay close too. And we brought lunch, remember?" She smiled, pointing at the picnic basket under the umbrella she'd set up with much fuss. "So we're just going to have a fun day today."

"I can collect seashells?" Brooklyn asked brightly as she wiggled her toes in the sand.

"Sure baby." Santana smiled as she stood up and put some lotion on herself then moved to put it on Rachel's back and neck as she moved to sit down beside them.

Rachel smiled back at her with a fond smile. "Thank you, Santana," she murmured, leaning up to kiss her cheek. "I appreciate it. And I'll help you find some nice shells, okay, Brooklyn?"

"Can I makes a necklace for my friend Lily?" Brooklyn asked as she watched them interact.

"Sure, we can make her something pretty when we get back home to Rachel's place." Santana smiled, and put everything back down in her bag. "So we need to soak up the sunblock and then we can go in the water. Brooke, where did your hat go?"

"I've got it," Rachel said after a moment of looking, holding up the floppy denim hap. "Here we go." She settled it on Brooklyn's head, cinching the string tie up under her chin. "Keep it on, okay? I don't want you to get sun-sick, sweetie."

"I look silly," she pouted, playing with the string before plopping down into the sand, "but okay."

"You look cute," Rachel pointed out, tapping her nose. "Do I look silly?" She asked, pointing at her own tied on hat, though she had a straw one with a scarf instead of a denim one.

"No you look pretty," she smiled, "like always."

Santana sat down on the blanket and took off her sandals. "I'm excited to be at the beach. We didn't have the ocean in Ohio where Rachel and mommy are from."

"It's a nice change, even if we do have the ocean in New York," Rachel agreed, moving to sit beside her and pulling Brooklyn in her lap. "It's much cleaner and the beaches are prettier here though I think."

"It's so nice!" Brooklyn said as she leaned back against Rachel's chest. "I like sunshine and beaches!"

"That's my girl, maybe one day mommy will take you to the Dominican Republic where my family is from." She smiled. "I used to go to visit my Grandma when I was your age and play on the beaches there."

"Maybe we could all go," Rachel murmured softly, reaching out to lace her fingers with Santana's. "If I get more work in films out here, perhaps I should consider a place on this coast too. What do you think, Santana?" She glanced over at her, trying to make it clear that Santana's opinion on the subject was important to her.

"Uh.. maybe just for the summer. Brooklyn's school's in New York and her program is perfect and it's letting her learn and experience more than other schools would," she said. "But we could think about it," she added as Brooklyn grabbed her young readers book and turned to her page and started reading to herself, her lips moving as she sounded out the words semi-quietly.

"Well, of course," Rachel shrugged. "Home will always be New York for me, but it might be nice to have a place of our own on this coast instead of a rental. For vacations if nothing else. I think we should definitely discuss it at some point." She smiled at Santana.

Santana nodded. "Sure, that sounds like a plan," she said as she leaned back against her elbows. "Want to go to the water now, Brooklyn, or want to wait until you finish your book."

Her tongue poking out, she worked her way carefully to the bottom of the page before looking up. "Can I finish my book first?" she asked hopefully. "I'm almost done. See?" She held it up, showing there were only about five pages left.

"Sure you can wait." Rachel smiled down at her, brushing her free hand over her hair. "The ocean isn't going anywhere and we have all day."

"Go ahead." Santana smiled and laid back soaking in the warmth of the sun. She rested her hands on her stomach and played with her bellyring, and closed her eyes.

Rachel smiled over at Santana as she relaxed in the sun. "You do love the sun, don't you," she murmured. "Ohio must have been miserable for you."

"Very bad," she said. "I used to do Cheerios stuff in just a sports bra when we could just to get some sun." She pouted. "It was awful, plus my friends were Quinn and Brittany... they are the two palest people ever."

"Should have hung out with Mercedes and I," she teased, reaching over to nudge her gently. "It never bothered us to spend time outside."

"Cedes and I always clashed, we sounded awesome singing together but that was _way_ too much attitude to be chilling together," she said with a smirk. "Plus, she always stole my damn food. And smelled like tater tots."

"I suppose so," Rachel smiled wistfully. "I suppose she and I certainly didn't get along most of the time either. Which is a shame as I'd thought she was starting to become my friend of a while."

"Eh, she got that fat kid and Sam on her mind for awhile," Santana shrugged. "Though Trouty was a better choice, those lips were amazing."

"I wouldn't know," she said with a laugh, glancing at Brooklyn's book at she read. "I think I'm one of the few girls in Glee who didn't kiss him."

"This is true," she said, "but now you get my lips and those are even better."

"They are," Rachel admitted, smiling at her softly.

"Done!" Brooklyn cheered, holding her book up. "Go swimming now, Mommy?"

"Sure, _Mariposa_." She smiled standing up and sliding off her shorts to reveal her bikini bottoms. "Rach, you ready?"

"Certainly." Rachel smiled, standing and taking off her sarong and hat, tucking them in the bag so they wouldn't blow away. She stretched, unconsciously showing off her red bikini clad body to Santana. Smiling, she tucked Brooklyn's hat into the bag. "Race you to the water?" she asked with a teasing smirk.

"You has bigger legs than me!" Brooklyn scowled as she started running through the sand with trouble. Santana swooped her up in her arms and took off, easily outrunning Rachel.

"No fair!" Rachel laughed, putting her head down to run faster as she charged towards the surf, barely keeping up with the other two in the deep sand.

Santana squealed when the water hit her toes. "It's cold!" she yelled in protest, hugging her daughter close as the little girl laughed gleefully.

"Of course it's cold, silly!" Rachel laughed, running out until the water was thigh-high and diving in only to reappear a moment. "It's especially nice on a hot day like today though."

Santana waded out with Brooklyn in her arms until she reached Rachel. "Brr!" Brooklyn exclaimed as the cold ocean water washed over her legs.

Rachel grinned up at them, pushing her wet hair back out of her eyes. "It's nice once you get used to it, don't you think? Are you still too hot, Brooklyn?" she asked after a moment, reaching for her.

"No, I like." She smiled, reaching for Rachel.

"Maybe some day when you're bigger we'll come out with snorkels and masks so we can swim under water," she suggested, taking the little girl. "Do you want to try swimming between your mom and me?"

"Okay, just don't let me go or the fishies will eat me," she warned.

"I promise not to let the fishies eat you," she said with a laugh, getting Santana's attention before walking beside Brooklyn as she paddled along towards her mom.

"Hey look at you, beautiful girl." Santana smiled as she took her daughter's hands.

"I'm swimming, Mommy!" Brooklyn laughed, looking up at her and spitting out salty water. "Swimming in the ocean! None of my classmates swim in the ocean, right?"

"It's not very likely," Rachel agreed, moving to lean against Santana.

"Nope, you are a little fishy!" She smiled and pulled her up against her when a wave rolled in. "You are so awesome, Brooke!"

"I like swimming!" she laughed. "Can I swim at home more too when Rachie comes home?"

Rachel smiled lopsidedly. "Maybe we could find a YMCA to join?"

"Her school has a pool, but one of us will have to go with her." Santana explained, her face bright with pride.

"I don't mind going," she murmured, glancing towards shore before leaning up to brush her lips against Santana's. "And I'll have more downtime once this movie wraps since Jan took over the show."

"Yay! I can go swim with Rachie again now, Mommy?"

"Of course," she said as she handed her daughter over to Rachel. "Mommy's gonna go lay on the beach if you two don't need me."

"That's a ridiculous thing to say, Santana," Rachel scoffed, only to smile softly. "We always need you. But," she looked down at Brooklyn, "do you want to swim a little more or go build sandcastles and look for shells for a bit before lunch?"

"Swim! Swim!" Brooklyn laughed as she splashed. "Mommy go sun tan and I play with you."

"Okay, but let's go where it's a little shallower first, okay?" she smiled down at the girl. "I'm not as big as your mom and I don't want us to get washed away with the tide!"

"That'd be bad!" Brooklyn gasped as she paddled in with the wake and sat in the sand with the water up on her waist. "I like the ocean, Rachie. Can we's live in California with you?"

"Maybe someday, but who's going to welcome me home and give me cuddles in New York if you move here, sweetie?" Rachel asked, picking up a shell that had washed up at their feet.

"I guess, but New York is cold and dirty." She pouted. "What about where you and Mommy lived before? Did you do kisses there too? I like that you do kisses now."

"No," she shook her head, handing Brooklyn the shell she found, "we were... friends, but not girlfriends. We had to grow up first," she smiled at Brooklyn, "and you needed to get born so we could give you lots of love and cuddles!"

"Oh! Like how mommy calls me her special present?" she asked with a happy smile. "Mommy is lots younger and prettier than all the other mommies at my school."

"You were her very special present," she agreed with a nod. "And I'm so lucky to get to know you. I'm happy you came to take care of your mommy until I could come be her friend again and help you."

"But," she said looking perplexed, "Mommy takes care of me." She blinked and looked confused. "She's mommy."

"Yes, but who makes Mommy laugh and smile and gives her the best hugs and cuddles when she's sleepy?" Rachel asked, reaching over to tap her nose. "And who reads to her and gives her kisses for me when I'm far away?"

"Me!" Brooklyn exclaimed happily. "I love her so much! She is the best mom ever! She makes the _best_ pancakes and knows how I like my back rubbed and she teaches me Spanish!"

Rachel laughed. "You see? You take care of your mommy like she takes care of you. You make her happy because you're her special present. You make _me_ happy because you're my best little girl and my friend and you make your mommy smile."

"I likes you because you love mommy and you make me happy and sing with me," she said as she splashed around, "and teach me piano."

"I _love_ you, silly," Rachel teased, ruffling the girl's damp hair. "And I like teaching you because you're a good little learner. We're going to play together when you get better with the violin, right? Remember, anything worth doing takes lots of practice to be good at."

"Mmhmm. Thank you, Rachie." Brooklyn smiled. "Can we have lunch now?"

"Sure." She smiled, helping the little girl up before getting to her own feet. "Let's go wake your mommy, okay? How do you think we should? Tickles?" She picked up Brooklyn and waded out of the ocean. "Or like Sleeping Beauty with a kiss?"

"Kisses!" Brooklyn beamed as she walked through the warm sand.

"Kisses it is!" Rachel laughed softly, heading over to kneel beside Santana. "Time to wake up, beautiful," she whispered, leaning down to brush her lips over Santana's in a gentle kiss.

Santana smirked in her relaxed state, but didn't open her eyes. Brooklyn frowned with an overly dramatic gasp that her mother knew she couldn't have learned from anyone but Rachel.

"She no wake up! Can I try, Rachie?"

"Sure." Rachel smirked, leaning back and letting Brooklyn move in to land a sloppy, noisy and damp kiss on her mom's lips. "That was an _excellent_ kiss, Brooklyn! I'm sure she'll wake right up after that."

"Ew! Baby cooties!" Santana exclaimed as she caught her daughter and started to tickle her.

"You weren't sleepins!" Brooklyn screamed, laughing as her mom tickled her. "And I'm," she gasped for air, trying to squirm away, "I'm not baby!"

"Of course you are," Rachel teased, sneaking her phone out of her bag to snap a picture of the laughing pair as they played. "You'll always be Santana's baby."

"You're my little baby butterfly!" Santana exclaimed as she tickled her daughter into the sand and kissed all over her face. " _Mi mariposa_!"

Brooklyn wrinkled her nose. "A baby butterfly's a cattypillar, mommy! I don't wanna be a cattypillar!"

Rachel laughed, pulling cold pasta salad and sandwiches out of the basket. "She has a point, Santana."

"My little butterfly. You're not allowed to grow up, you are my only baby."

Brooklyn thought about it for a moment then looked up at Santana hopefully. "Can I be Rachie's too? You're Mommy, but she's my Rachie. Can I be hers too?"

Rachel's breath caught in her throat as she heard them talking behind her. She kept rummaging in the picnic basket and setting things out so they could have their privacy.

"If you both... If Rach is fine with it," she stammered, not totally okay with sharing her child yet, "then okay."

"Only one way I'll be fine," Rachel murmured, deciding that an interruption was necessary and crawling over with a lopsided smirk to kiss Santana. "And that's if you'll be beside me. Brooklyn, let's not worry about that now, alright? We have lunch to eat and you know I'll always be there for you or your mom if you need me no matter what I'm called, okay?"

"Okay." Brooklyn nodded slowly and smiled after a moment before hugging Rachel and kissing her cheek. "I love you, Rachie!" she chirped, squirming off to get to her sippy cup full of lemonade.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked softly, giving Santana a gentle smile. "I'm not encouraging her, I promise."

"I'm not great at sharing... but she loves you. I'm just... We can't have her thinking of you as a parent when we can't even be together in the world."

Rachel regarding her for a moment. "I'm willing to be open about our relationship after the movie's out if that's what you want, Santana." She reached over and laced their fingers together. "I'm very proud of you after all and would not be ashamed in the slightest if anyone knew we were together."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm worried. You'll have more and more press..."

"If," she took a breath, "if you want us to continue hiding then we can do that, Santana. I just want to be with you and Brooklyn."

"You will be," Santana promised, not willing to go through another separation like that last one. "Everything else will come."

"I hope so." She smiled at Santana. "Come on. I'm sure Brooklyn wants to eat."

* * *

Getting Brooklyn tucked in after a long day of playing at the beach was fairly easy. The little girl was exhausted from all the sun and playing and fell asleep easily with very little encouragement necessary from the two women. However, it left Santana and Rachel almost awkwardly aware of their semi-aloneness.

Rachel smiled shyly at Santana, reaching for her hand as she whispered. "Do you want to get cleaned up? I can show you where the shower is," she trailed off blushing, "of course you probably already found it."

Santana toyed with the end of her tank top shyly. "It'd be nice if you could show me the shower on the first floor?" She looked over and took the other woman's hand. "I'd like to not be at risk of waking up the child."

"Sure." Rachel smiled lopsidedly, leading her out of the room and to the stairs. "I... um," she blushed fiercely, stammering over her words from nerves, "would... would you like any help? I mean... with your hair. Since we were in the sand and the salt, I thought, maybe..." she trailed off, realizing she was babbling.

"That would... that would be really helpful," Santana said as she followed Rachel down the stairs. "And it's saving water and all."

"Of course." She nodded, leading the way down the hall to the bathroom across from the guest bedroom that had been turned into her office. "After all, water conservation is extremely important. We shouldn't waste any in the process of getting clean."

Santana leaned against the wall and watched Rachel with a tiny smile. "I've missed you, Rachel."

She looked up at Santana with a shy smile and a nervous blush, murmuring softly, "I've missed you too, Santana. I... it's good to have you here. Makes this place almost feel like home..."

"Come shower with me," she said, taking her hand and pulling her into the bathroom.

"Are you sure?" Rachel whispered softly, following Santana in. "I, um," she swallowed, biting her lip, "I'm not entirely certain as to my resolve regarding not engaging you in a sexual manner in such an environment after all..."

"We can," she said softly. "Just we need to be quiet," she added as she took off her tank top and cargo shorts leaving her in just her bathing suit.

Smiling lopsidedly, she started pulling off the sundress she was wearing over her suit. "I... I'd really like that, Santana." Folding the dress and laying it on the counter, she stepped to Santana and leaned into her, kissing her gently. "I've really missed you. I've missed this too... but mostly you."

Santana slid her hands up Rachel's back, pulling her against her. "I missed you too," she said against her lips. "I don't like you living out here alone."

She whimpered softly, leaning into Santana's embrace. "I don't like it either, but it shouldn't be much longer and then I can come home. Just a few more months..."

"I know," Santana whispered, pressing her lips to the corner of Rachel's mouth. "Just come home to me and Brooklyn, okay?" she asked, showing her vulnerability and fear of abandonment.

"Of course," she whispered, reaching over to turn the water on as she pressed soft kisses along Santana's jaw. "That's what I want more than anything."

She nodded and leaned back and adjusted the water's temperature. She pulled lose her braid and slid her arms to the back of her and untied her bathing suit top.

Rachel swallowed as Santana's breasts came into view. She whimpered softly as she realized that they were very likely going to be touching very soon as she reached back to undo her own top and pull it off. "Is... is this okay?" she whispered, tossing it out of the shower and tugging on the strings holding her bottoms up.

"You looked so good in that suit," Santana replied running her hands to Rachel's hips. "I couldn't keep my eyes off you when you were in the water today."

"Really?" she murmured, biting her lip shyly. "I... had to watch Brooklyn while we were swimming, but it was hard because I kept imagining the way the water ran off you when you came up out of the water that time you dove in..."

She smiled. "I bought it hoping you'd like it," Santana said, kissing her shoulder.

"I liked it," she nodded, "I definitely liked it." She blushed as she ran her hands up and down Santana's sides. "I think I might like you out of it more though..."

Santana slid her hands down to her bottoms and pulled the string that held it together. She let the fabric fell to the ground and looked into Rachel's eyes.

She swallowed, her eyes following the wet fabric as it hit the ground before slowly tracing back up along Santana's bare body. "I... I definitely prefer this right now," she whispered, letting her own bottoms it the ground. "Is... am I... I...," she trailed off, blushing darkly, her mind unable to focus on anything but Santana.

"Focus," Santana whispered as she kissed Rachel's lips. She slid her hand down from Rachel's shoulder to her sternum and over to her breast. She cupped her and ran her thumb over her pert nipple.

She whimpered, stepping back into the shower. "Please, Santana," she murmured, "I want to touch you..."

"Whenever you'd like," she whispered as she looped her arms around the smaller woman's neck.

Rachel laughed, burying her face in the crook of Santana's neck. "If I could touch you whenever I'd like, we'd get in far more trouble than either of us would like." Her hand drifted down from the woman's back to her hip, cupping the swell. "Because I want to touch you always, Santana..."

"I'd like that too." She whimpered softly at the feeling of Rachel's hands on her skin after so long apart. "I wish we could be safe and be together... I hate seeing the reports about you in the papers," she said as she stroked the woman's shoulders.

"They don't mean anything," she murmured, kissing along Santana's neck. "You know the truth." She sucked gently on her neck over her pulse, stopping just before leaving a mark. "You know who I'm with... who I love..."

"I know," she whispered. "I just... I just miss you so much sometimes."

"I miss you too," she breathed, caressing her lover with lips and hands. "I miss sleeping with you. Laughing and cooking with you. I miss _seeing_ you whenever I want. Not to mention touching you like this. I want to come home. I want the movie to finish so I can just come _home_."

"Brooke misses you." She sighed. "It's really hard on her, knowing that you're pretending to have Ray and she's nervous you'll be a family with him."

"I won't. Not ever. Not even if he was straight," Rachel promised, leaning up to kiss Santana firmly, pressing their bodies together from hip to shoulder. "I'm _yours_ , Santana. Yours and Brooklyn's."

"Okay," Santana said as she kissed Rachel back. She held as closer and let their bodies all but meld together under the water flowing from the shower head. "Please make me yours."

"Mine?" she whispered against her lips with a shy smile, her fingers lightly drifting over Santana's hip to gently brush along the crease of her hip. "Are you really mine, Santana? My... girlfriend?"

"Yes," she replied breathlessly, her head tilting back to rest against the wall, "I'm yours."

She laughed with a measure of disbelief and happiness as she pressed her lips against Santana's neck. "I love you," she whispered with a smile against her skin. "I love being able to think of you as my girlfriend, as my," she slid her fingers between Santana's folds, lightly brushing over her clit with a low moan at how wet she was even with the water flowing over them, "lover..."

"Fuck," She whimpered, her head falling to Rachel's shoulder. "I want you so bad, Rachel."

Using her free hand, she pulled one of Santana's hands to her wet core. "Take me then," she whispered, sliding two fingers down to tease at Santana's entrance. "Take me as I'm making love to you, Santana..."

Santana slid her hand down to Rachel's core, her fingers quickly mimicking her lovers. She slid through her folds and moaned softly as she found wet heat against her hand. "So wet," She whimpered, as she slid her index and middle fingers into her girlfriend.

Rachel gasped softly at the feeling of being filled by Santana. "All for you," she whimpered, sliding two fingers inside her tight channel. "God, Santana, you're always so... tight and wet..."

With a low whimper, Santana's lips found Rachel's pulse point and began sucking lightly in time with her thrusts, only vaguely able to remember she couldn't mark her like she wanted to.

"Can't," she panted, moving her thumb to rub at Santana's clit as she pumped in and out, curling her fingers to rake along her walls as she clenched around the other woman's fingers, "can't be loud..."

Santana kissed Rachel to swallow her moans as she thrust hard and fast inside her lover's body.

Rachel moaned into her mouth as she felt her body growing closer and closer to climax. She moved against Santana, their bodies rubbing against each other under the warm spray of the shower as she took her. Each rub of their breasts against each other evoked a whimper and caused her fingers to twitch slightly, fluttering against the sensitive point deep inside of Santana.

"C-close," Santana whimpered as she bit her lip as her body started to shake around Rachel's fingers.

"Come with me," Rachel whispered, her lips pressing against Santana's possessively. She was nearly at her peak and knew it wouldn't be much longer as she felt her walls already beginning to flutter against Santana's fingers. "Come with me, Santana. Please."

"O-oh God..." She shuddered as she let her head fall back and her lips draw open as she fell over the edge. "Rachel," she whispered.

Rachel could barely speak when her orgasm hit. She clung to Santana, body trembling making her fingers shake even in the clinch of her lover's body. "S-san," she gasped out as she spasmed around her fingers, nails of her free hand digging into Santana's shoulder.

After their bodies stopped clenching, Santana carefully removed her fingers and grabbed the shampoo and began to wash Rachel's hair lazily. She ran her fingers through the length and then helped rinse it out.

Rachel laughed softly as she felt Santana taking care of her. "I thought I was supposed to help with your hair," she teased as she carefully slid her fingers out of Santana. "But here you are taking care of me again."

"I'm a mom... it's what I do." She smiled as she kissed Rachel softly. "I take care of people."

"You're exceptionally good at it," she teased, reaching for the shampoo to begin washing Santana's hair. "I love you, you know." She spoke almost off-handedly, like it wasn't a big deal, as she massaged the shampoo into Santana's hair. "You mean more to me than anyone. You and Brooklyn."

"You mean more to us than anyone else, too," Santana replied. "Brooklyn and I adore you."

"Good." Rachel smiled. "Because I can't imagine not having you in my life at this point, Santana. Either of you. So you need to stick with me, okay? Don't let me get lost out here."

She nodded as she let her long hair get rinsed out. "We should get out of the shower."

"That's a shame," she teased. "I rather like you like this." A hand ran teasingly down Santana's nude body. "But I suppose you're right." She looked shyly up at Santana. "Sleep with me tonight?"

"Of course." Santana smiled, nodding. "I can make dinner if you wanna spend some one on one time with Brooklyn."

"Oh, so that wasn't one-on-one time while you were napping at the beach under the guise of tanning?" she teased, wrinkling up her nose as she smirked at her. Reaching out of the shower, she grabbed a couple of towel while Santana turned off the water. "Sure, if that's how you'd like to do things tonight, that sounds lovely."

"She just wants to play with you," Santana whispered. "She loves you and misses you," she explained as she wrapped a towel around herself and stepped out of the shower.

"I know she does," Rachel said, wrapping her towel around her body as she got out, "but what about her mom?"

"She always has me," she smiled.

"Not what I asked, Santana," she chuckled quietly, "but I suppose it'll do. Come on, let's go lie down for our own nap before the little one wakes up."

Santana nodded and followed Rachel to the bedroom to get dressed. She flopped down on the bed tiredly and curled up.

Rachel pulled on yoga pants and a tank top and crawled into bed behind Santana. Slipping an arm around her waist, she snuggled into her back and took a deep breath of the familiar scent of her lover as she nuzzled the crook of her neck. "I think I've missed this - being able to cuddle with you - more than anything else."

Santana smiled and just tangled their fingers together as she drifted off to sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

Quinn felt wrung out. She knew she'd only agreed to attend therapy because of her deal with Santana, but she hadn't realized it would take so much out over her. Every session felt like another of her layers of defense being peeled off and thrown away. She knew it was helping and that she probably should have done it ages ago, but after every session she just felt so _raw_ that she hated it.

So when she spotted a copy of the National Enquirer with a full color photo of what looked decidedly like Santana and Rachel kissing on a beach somewhere sunny, she felt like screaming in frustration. Instead she slapped down the four dollars to buy the rag and stormed off towards her office with it clenched in one white-knuckled fist.

Rachel had promised it wouldn't be a problem! She'd _promised_! It made Quinn's heart clench with a mixture of fear and anger that always made her far more irritable than usual. Damn them!

"Sandy, could you get Santana Lopez on the phone?" she asked with barely restrained politeness as she passed her secretary. "I need to speak with her. And yes, I know she's on vacation. It's _urgent_."

Slamming her office door behind her, she threw herself into her office chair with an irritated huff. "First they _lie_ to me and don't even trust me enough to let me know what's happening with my _best friends_ and now _this_?!" She flung the battered tabloid down on her desk, glaring at it. "I'm going to wring her damn _neck_! Is she _trying_ to destroy her damn career?!"

* * *

Back at Rachel's apartment, Santana picked up the phone and cradled it to her ear after checking the caller ID with a sigh. "Fabray, this better be good, I have a cranky child and jetlag."

* * *

"You also have a front page spread on the National Enquirer," Quinn growled into her phone. "What the hell were you thinking making out with Rachel in _public_ when you _know_ how important it is she comes across as straight right now!?"

"What?!" Santana exclaimed. "We never did that in public! We went to the beach with Brooke and that's it!"

"Great, because apparently someone decided to snap some candids of you two being all over each other while _at the beach_. God, Santana, is it _that hard_ to not kiss her in public?"

"I didn't!" Santana exclaimed. "The closest we got was when Brooklyn demanded she wake me up like Sleeping Beauty!"

Quinn sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "That's not what this photo looks like. God, the studio is going to blow this all out of proportion. Damn those miserable bastards and their damn _family values_."

"Q... is...Is my daughter in the photo?" she asked softly.

"If she is, I can't tell." Quinn shrugged, looking at the photo. "Maybe Rachel was blocking her from the photographer or she was just out of frame. I don't know how we're going to handle this, Santana."

"Check in the pages. Is she _anywhere_ in there?" she demanded. "I don't fucking care about anything else, just check the pages to see if Brooklyn is shown."

"Give me a minute," Quinn said, the rustling of the pages as she flicked through them clearly audible over the phone. "No... no... I don't see her. I mean, there might be an arm or something once or twice, but she's pretty much blocked by either you or Rachel it looks like."

"Good." Santana exhaled. "I... I can't do this." She ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head. "I can't live like this. Rachel said it was a private beach. I would have never gone if she hadn't assured me..."

"Beaches _are_ private. The ocean, however, _isn't_. I'd guess these were taken from a boat." Quinn groaned. "Santana, this is a mess. What are you going to do? I'm going to be scrambling to keep the studio from trying to fire her over it, but what about you?"

"I'm gonna quit," Santana said softly. "I'm not risking everything for a shitty job. I'm not."

"Christ," Quinn breathed, "how's Rachel going to take that? I don't want to deal with her divaing out all over the place on top of everything else."

"You got her into this mess, Quinn. The studio will want to fire someone. Let it be me. Let them fire me for whatever it is that they think Rachel is doing." She sighed. "I'm protecting her. I'm protecting all of us."

Quinn picked up a pen, chewing on the end of it as she considered. "Are you going to dump her again? I'm assuming you're back together again after all."

"I'm not," Santana said. "Not that it's any of your business," she snapped almost hurt that Quinn asked the question. "I'm just removing myself from this situation."

"Well, at least there's that," she sighed, leaning back in her chair. "She was a mess when you dumped her the first time, Santana. If you feel you have to quit, fine. Just," she shook her head, "just don't give up on her again. Alright?"

"I didn't give up on her the first time, but thanks for that keen insight into my life, Quinn." Santana scowled. "Just deal with her work."

"She is one of my _best friends_ , Santana," Quinn growled into the phone, her fingers white knuckled on the receiver as she held it against her ear. "I don't want her hurt."

"I'm not gonna hurt her." Santana sighed. "I just can't work for her if this is going to happen. We can be together... but I can't do this. I can't be scared that next time they'll get a glimpse of Brooklyn."

"Alright, fine. You can't work for her. I'll draw the paperwork up, but Santana," she said almost worriedly, "what are you going to do?"

"I'll get a job somewhere else." She sighed again, shrugging. "I can figure it out."

"Will you talk to her?" she asked softly. "Please don't make this come from me. It'll make it seem like I fired you no matter how I put it. You know how little she talks to me now..."

"I'll call her. It'll be fine."

Quinn laughed mirthlessly. "I doubt she'll talk to me after you quit on top of everything else. I thought this movie would be good for her career. I never thought it would ruin everything."

"It _will_ be good. She's just a diva. It's not your fault, I'll make sure she knows."

"If I can do anything to help you, Santana..." Quinn trailed off, leaving the offer open ended.

"I know. Do... you wanna get lunch or something now that I'm back?" The offer sounded awkward after their extended absence and the previous topic, but she knew she had to make it.

"Sure," she nodded despite being on the phone, "I'd like that. Is... is Brooklyn around? Doctor Reynard says I should try spending time with her in a neutral environment to try and get over my... anxieties."

"Sure," Santana said. "Little monkey child can come with us. We can go anytime. She's off from camp this week so it's just her and me."

"That's," Quinn took a breath, "that's good. Just let me know when the best time would be for you. Santana," she hesitated before offering, "do you want me to officially fire you so you can get a severance package and qualify for unemployment if you can't find work right away?"

"That's up to you, Quinn." She sighed, shaking her head. "Talk to the studio and them come back to me. Offer me up as a scapegoat for her... She shouldn't get in trouble because of me."

"You mean because she's in love with you," she murmured, almost too softly for the phone to pick up. "Don't act like I'm not right, Santana. We both know she's been ready to sacrifice her career for you and your kid once already."

"This is the reason why I won't let her lose everything," Santana said softly. "It's not fair to her."

"Is it fair to you though?" she asked. "You're my friend too, Santana. This whole thing between the two of you has me all confused as to who I'm supposed to be protecting." She gave a short laugh. "Maybe I should threaten both of you if you hurt each other."

"We're fine," Santana said softly. "Can set up a lunch for Wednesday? That way we can get some time to deal with Rachel and have our time to think about what we should do."

"Sure, I can do that. And food preferences?" She smirked, feeling better now that things seemed handled. "It'll be a chance to go out somewhere that _isn't_ vegan friendly if you want."

"That's fine. As long as they have something the kid can eat." She smiled. "So no sushi."

"She can't have sushi now? I thought she just had an allergy to tree nuts?" Quinn sounded worried.

"She does have an allergy to tree nuts, she just is grossed out by sushi," Santana said with a little laugh. "So am I actually so it works out."

She laughed. "Well, that's good because I prefer things like mac and cheese and burgers when I have an excuse to eat something indulgent. Is that okay with you? Or we could go to a salad place if you want."

"No salad!" Santana exclaimed. "That's all I ate in LA. I feel like a fucking rabbit."

"Alright, no salad!" Quinn laughed. "Though I'm surprised Rachel didn't offer to at least make you things that aren't vegan. She didn't seem to have a major problem with it when we lived together as long as I didn't try to make her eat it and let her avoid the non-kosher meats."

"She did, but I hate soy and I don't want Brooklyn to eat it so we stayed in salad land. Brooklyn was not so happy."

"Santana, you know she'll use regular cheese on things for you and Brooklyn," she chided gently. "But you just name a place you and Brooklyn like and we'll go there. Sound good?"

"Cool. I'll text you. Go and talk to the movie people and we can figure out where to go from there."

"Alright. I'll see you on Wednesday." Hanging up the phone, Quinn called out to Sandy at the desk. "Sandy, get John Palmer on the phone. I need to do damage control."

* * *

Santana held her daughter's hand as they entered the restaurant. She smiled when she noticed the familiar wild mess of freshly cut blonde hair sticking out over the top of a booth over in the corner of the restaurant. They headed over and stopped over at the side of the booth. "Hey, Quinn."

"Hello, Santana," she smiled up at her, setting the menu down. "Hi there, Brooklyn. Did you enjoy your trip to LA?"

"Yes," Brooklyn said shyly. "I got a bunch of seashells and I brought you some," she said as she pulled her backpack off her shoulders and handed a envelope of seashells to Quinn.

"Oh wow," she breathed, accepting the envelope. "You didn't have to do that, Brooklyn. But thank you very much." She smiled at the little girl as her and her mom slid into the booth across from them. "How did you like LA, Santana?" she asked conversationally, not trying to pick a fight.

"It was good," Santana said as she helped Brooklyn get situated inside the booth. "We had a good time, very relaxing." She shrugged, pulled off her sunglasses her eyes puffy from crying the night before and the morning because of the whole situation.

"That's good," Quinn nodded, deliberately not commenting on how red Santana's eyes were. After a moment debating with herself, she reached across the table to squeeze Santana's hand. "I'm going to keep them away from you and Brooklyn, Santana. You don't have to break up with Rachel. I'll make sure of it. Okay?"

"I know," she said taking a sip of the water that was brought to her. "It's just... I can't sleep. It's hard to be focused when I'm scared that there are more photos coming or that they will mention us by name."

"I'll keep you out of it," she reassured her. "I promise. It's kind of what my company does, Santana. Don't worry. Just," she paused, taking a breath, "try not to be hurt when the official word is she denies all of it as a hoax. She has to right now, but it's going to be a special kind of hell convincing her that it's necessary."

Brooklyn picked up her crayons and started coloring on the placemat, the older woman's eyes shifted towards to daughter and sighed. "I know. I'm just... I never wanted this. I just wanted to be with her and didn't think it would get like this."

"Well, if even half of what she says to me when she's yelling is true," Quinn smirked, recalling their friend's tendency towards hyperbole, "then she definitely wants to be with you too. And this... this is a mess and a half. I don't know what I was thinking agreeing to that stupid _decency_ clause in her contract. I can promise you this though, I won't be accepting any scripts produced by that studio anymore. The roll was just so perfect for her though..."

"It's fine. It's only a few more months," she said. "Brooklyn, baby what do you want for lunch?"

"Can I have..." She looked thoughtful and looked at the kids' menu. "What do you think looks yummy?" she asked Quinn, looking up at her with big eyes.

"There's mac and cheese with chicken," Quinn pointed out, trying to engage the child more.

Brooklyn looked at it. "Is it crispy chickens?" she asked. "Cause I only likes that."

"Maybe we could ask for chicken fingers with mac and cheese on the side?" she suggested. "Rachel told me you like mac and cheese. Is that right?"

"She's right!" Brooklyn smiled happily. "I loves it!" She squirmed cheerfully in her booster seat as she went back to coloring. After a moment, she looked up at Quinn curiously. "What are you gonna eat?"

"I think I'll have a grilled chicken sandwich. Maybe with fries if you'd like to share?" she smiled at Brooklyn before turning to Santana. "What about you?"

"I think Buffalo chicken wrap and sweet potato fries." She smiled. "Brooke, why don't you tell Quinn about school and what you are doing next week."

"I'm going pony riding! We're going out of the city and riding ponies!"

"Really? That sounds like a lot of fun." Quinn smiled at her after giving their order to the waiter who took their menus. "I used to love going to camp and riding in the summer when I was little. Be really careful though, okay? I don't want to hear about you getting hurt."

"I won't. Mommy is coming with me." She smiled and continued coloring. "I'm excited. I get to go on ponies and go camping with Mommy!"

"You just wanna see mommy get all dusty from the horses," Santana mumbled with a smile.

"Oh, I'd almost pay to see that." Quinn smirked at Santana. "You getting all dirty on purpose. Such a change from high school."

"Shush you." Santana scowled. "It's for Brooklyn.'"

"Oh?" She barely managed to suppress a laugh, teasing her. "What if it was for Rachel?"

"She does not get to go camping," Santana stated as she ordered her food for her and Brooklyn. "She gets nice hotels and beds where it's cozy."

"Oh, so you wouldn't go camping with her if she asked?" Quinn teased, leaning back when their food arrived and starting to prepare her sandwich.

"She would _never_ ask." Santana laughed as she leaned over and helped Brooklyn cut her chicken tenders.

"You're probably right," she agreed with a smile, "but I think I'd still pay to see the two of you trying to camp. Would likely be the most hilarious thing ever."

"Never going to happen." She said with a smirk as she ate a fry. "It would take an act of God."

"Better be careful to say your prayers right then," Quinn teased, taking a bite out of her sandwich. After a bit, her smile softened. "Santana... thanks for making me go to see Doctor Reynard. I think I needed to."

"Me too..." She said softly, "But I'm glad it's helping you. it's something that we should have done a long time ago."

Quinn shrugged, "We're doing it now and that's what counts, right? I want to be happy with Ajay and," she gave a tiny smile, "maybe I kind am starting to like the idea of having a kid with him someday. I need to come to terms with giving up Beth if I want that to happen."

Santana smiled. "That's good."

"You wanna have a baby!" Brooklyn piped in cheerfully. "That would be awesome! I wants little friends to play with! I want mommy to have another baby, too," she added almost offhandedly. She continued to munch on her chicken after she talked despite Santana's glare.

Quinn laughed. "Not right now, Brooke. But maybe in a few years when I'm more established in my job. You'll help babysit though, right? Cause you'll be a big girl by then."

The little girl looked excited. "Really? Will I really be big enough? I'm only five!" she said, holding up a splayed hand. "I wanna help!"

"You can help, you might be big enough by then," Santana said, trying to not talk about having more kids.

"Almost definitely," she agreed, glancing at Santana. "I think you being big enough to help out will be a requirement to any of us having a baby, so it'll be a few years yet. Okay?"

She thought for a few minutes before pouting up at her mom. "Mommy? You not have another baby before then?" she asked softly. "I want a little brother or sister."

"Your mom's with Rachel, sweetheart," Quinn reminded her as she munched on a fry. "So she has to wait until Rachel's ready because it's extra hard for two women to have a baby together. But I'm sure they'll talk about it when they're ready. Until then maybe you can hang out with me and teach me about the things I'd need to know to be a mom as good as yours when I'm ready to have a baby?"

"Okay!" She smiled, cheese smeared on her cheeks. "Mommy and Rachel should have a baby though, I want that for my family," she said not noticing how much of a blush had darkened Santana's tanned features.

"Maybe they will," Quinn teased, smirking at Santana, "but not until they're ready, okay? Let them give you all the attention for now, okay?"

Santana busied herself eating to avoid having to say anything. "Okay," Brooklyn pouted, "but I get to play with you and Jay too?"

"Definitely." She reached over to tousle her hair affectionately. "You're going to be our number one teacher about how to be good parents, right?"

"Can I just be your favorite little girl?" she asked. "I rather be that."

"You can _definitely_ be that, Brooklyn." Quinn smiled at her. "You're all of our favorite girl. Me, Ajay, and your mom and Rachel most of all."

"Mommy is my mom!" she giggled before snuggling into Santana's side and stealing french fries. "And Rachel is my Rachie." She munched happily.

"You are a very loved little one, Brooklyn." Santana cooed, as she kissed her child's head before pulling her onto her lap.

"Very loved," Quinn murmured with a little nod. "Santana, I'm going to officially let you go as far as HR is concerned so I can give you a severance package. It won't be a lot, but it should give you a nice cushion until you can find other work. You're still living in Rachel's apartment, right?"

"Yeah, so we don't have to worry about rent, I just need the health insurance," she said as she cuddled her daughter, managing her food one-handedly.

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, that's about what I thought. Okay. I probably can't squeeze more than a month or two out of HR on the regular plan, but with a little wiggling I think I should be able to get you qualified for COBRA. That'll give you at least 18 months to find something better. If cost is a problem, I'm sure Rachel will help out where she can. She's rather attached to the two of you after all."

"We should be fine, we had COBRA before so it's not that hard. Plus, Brooklyn can go on the state plan because she's a child," she said as she finished her wrap. "We should be fine."

"Alright. I promise a glowing letter of recommendation to whomever you want," she nodded, eating the last of her sandwich, "and you know if you need any help, you can ask Rachel or me." She smiled softly, reaching over to squeeze Santana's hand. "You and Rachel are the closest thing I have to family any more, Santana. I promise, if you need me, I'll be there for you."

"Thank you," Santana said. "You're family too, you know."

"Damn straight." She nodded. "Who else would bail you out with benefits when Rachel drags you into a mess?" she asked with a smirk.

She chuckled. "Yeah well... I got into it willingly," she reminded Quinn as she rested her head on Brooklyn's, giving her a squeeze. "What's on for you the rest of the afternoon?"

"Yelling at people, coffee, more yelling at people," she ticked the points off on her fingers, "talking to Ajay, more yell... no, wait, that's my boss so wheedling followed by yelling at people and topped of with begging Ajay to pick me up and take me home."

Brooklyn giggled. "Your silly, Auntie Quinn." She beamed as she watched the blonde.

Quinn laughed. "Thank you, Brooke. I try. But all of that is because your Rachie likes to make work for me. Sometimes she even makes me want to scream." She smirked, glancing at Santana for support.

"She is a special kind of crazy," Santana agreed easily. "I'm sorry if this gets you in trouble."

"Don't worry about it. She once was responsible for me getting arrested and spending the weekend in jail before she managed to find the cash to bail me out." She shook her head with a fond smile. "In comparison, this is nothing."

Santana laughed. "Sounds about right." She dug some cash out of her bag and put it on the table. "Thanks for lunching with us."

"Next time it's on me," Quinn smirked, "it's only fair after all. I'll bring the paperwork by in a couple days to finalize everything, but I hope you won't be a stranger."

"Can't get rid of me that easy," Santana said as she slid out of the booth and Brooklyn tugged on Quinn's skirt.

"Aunt Quinn?"

Quinn crouched down to eye level with the youngster. "Yes, sweetheart?"

"Can I hug you?" she asked softly.

Not even looking to Santana for reassurance for once, she opened her arms to the little girl. "Of course you can."

Brooklyn hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Aunt Quinn," she said brightly before going back to her mom.

"You're welcome and any time, okay?" She smiled up at Santana before straightening back up. "I'm trying," she murmured.

Santana leaned over and hugged Quinn. "It helps that my little brown Asian baby looks nothing like Beth, right?" she teased. "Talk to you soon."

"It helps a little," she agreed with a smirk. "Take care of your family, San, and stay out of trouble for a bit."

"We're gonna have some family time," Santana said as she picked her daughter up. "Talk to you later."

"Later, you two," Quinn waved, watching them head out of the restaurant.


	29. Chapter 29

The sun was still up when Rachel logged into her computer and clicked open her Skype connection. Scrolling through her contacts, she quickly found Santana's name and grinned as she clicked on it to start the call and set her webcam up. Today's shoot had gone very well and she was in a great mood that could only be made better by being able to see her favorite people before she had to go out on a "date" with Ray that evening.

Santana was sitting at the coffee table using her computer to work on a new story she had come up with. She smiled when she heard the Skype chime, clicking on the icon to pull up the window and accept the call. "Hi, you," she said as Rachel's face filled her screen.

"Hi," Rachel waved, smiling at the camera. "Is Brooklyn still at her playdate? I thought I might get a chance to say goodnight before I have to leave to go out with Ray tonight."

"She's reading in her bedroom," Santana said. "Do you know why you have that date yet?"

"Do I know why?" She raised a brow. "Santana, Ray and I go out about once a week to be seen. You know that. Why?" She looked worried. "Did something happen? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah... There were photos taken... At the beach." She swallowed. "Of us."

"That's really not a funny joke, Santana." Rachel tried smiling but it was hard. After a moment, her face fell. "You're not joking. Oh God... was Brooklyn in them?" she asked worriedly, her first concern being the safety of the little girl.

"No, thank God," Santana said softly. "But they have one from when you kissed me." She looked down. "The studio is pissed."

"Because I kissed you?" She looked irritated. "They can go jump off a pier. That's _my_ private life and they don't get to tell me who to love. It's bad enough they insist on controlling my _public_ private life. What's the worst they can do? Fire me? I'll be sure to go to the press and the ACLU as soon as I receive my walking papers. This is California and they do not have the right to fire me over my sexual orientation, and believe me, I will insure that is _all_ they will be able to fire me for."

"You're in the middle of a movie. You will break your contract if you do anything more than just finish the film." Santana sighed. "Besides they're not going to fire you... though they wanted too."

"What?" Rachel's eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

"Because I told Quinn to let me go instead," she said softly, not looking at Rachel.

"You... what?" She sounded scared and a little lost. "But... Santana, we work together. It's why we can see each other so often..."

"You are almost done filming. We can figure it out until you're done," she said softly. "I'm still here for you. I still... You're still my heart okay?"

"And you're mine." Rachel's face crumpled slightly. "I'm going to miss you all the time now! This isn't fair, Santana!"

"We still have this. We still have reading to Brooklyn at night and I'll still handle your online stuff..." She sniffled, having trouble keeping it all in. "I'm just... someone needed to take the fall."

"Why did it have to be you?" she mumbled, wiping a finger under her eyes. "You shouldn't have to take the fall all the time, Santana. Quinn'll make me get another assistant now and I don't want to work with anyone but you... and what are _you_ going to do now?" She looked worried.

"I had to take the fall because I was the easy blame. It was my idea, Rachel," she said softly. "I can't be the reason you don't get to follow your dream. Just finish the movie, okay? I'll find another job."

"I don't like this." Rachel shook her head. "What this studio is forcing us to do is _wrong_. I don't ever want to work for them again after this."

"Once the movie is done you don't have too," Santana said. "Just come home to me."

"I want to come home," she whispered, smiling sadly at the camera. "I wanted to come home with you when you left on Sunday. I hate being here without the two of you."

"Same," Santana replied. "Would talking to the kid make you smile?"

"Just... talk to me for a little before she comes on so I can compose myself?" Rachel asked hopefully. "I don't like her seeing me upset. What have you two been doing since you got back? Anything interesting?"

"Were getting ready for her camping trip thing." She rolled her eyes. "Had lunch with Q today, both of us actually. Working on some writing."

"Camping?" Rachel made a disgusted face at the idea. "I'm glad I'm not there for it. How's Quinn? And writing? Like what Brooklyn told me about a few months ago? She said you make her books."

"Yeah not really loving the camping thing, but Brooke is excited." She shrugged. "Q's good, she was good with Brooklyn so that's pretty good." She smiled and took a sip of her tea. "Yeah, I used to draw and I wrote her first couple books."

" _Really?_ " Rachel smirked, teasing Santana with her smile. "You should show me some time. I'd love to see them."

"Maybe, but I'm kinda nervous about them," she said bashfully. "I like drawing and writing though. I've always done it."

"Well, you know how I feel about artistic aspirations," she teased, wiggling her brows. "Though I admit music is a far greater turn on, but then... I already _know_ what an amazing voice you have."

"Not anymore." She shrugged. "But Brooklyn seems to like my stuff and I hope to keep the books in case I ever have more kids."

"Nonsense, Santana. Your voice doesn't go away just because you have a child," Rachel scolded gently. "I'm sure with a little practice you would still sound amazing considering how little you seemed to practice in Glee. Do you," she looked shy, "do you want more kids? Some day, I mean."

"Yeah... as scary as being pregnant was... I loved it. The three AM feedings... holding her bare on my skin." She smiled softly in memory. "Plus, Brooklyn wants to be a big sister."

"Well, um... maybe in a few years, maybe," she blushed, stammering as she tried to push the words out past her shy smile, "maybe it won't be so scary because I could maybe... help?"

Santana blushed, but nodded. "Okay."

"I don't know the first thing about pregnancy or being a parent or any of that, but," she smiled shyly, peering up at the camera, "I like to imagine being with you that long. And... maybe I like the idea of being a family with you and Brooklyn and isn't having a child together part of that? Not _now_ of course, but... someday. I think I'd like that."

"I had Brooke in my teens... don't be so scared," she teased with a smile, "but that sounds nice."

"Good," Rachel smiled lopsidedly. "It'll give me a goal to look forward to while I'm trapped here in the land of sun pretending to be my gay co-star's loving girlfriend." She rolled her eyes. "So where's our girl?" She grinned. "I need to say goodnight and get my Brooklyn fix before I go!"

She smiled and leaned back. "Brooke!" she hollered before the soft thuds of footsteps ran over and the tiny girl hopped up on Santana's lap.

"Hi, Rachie!" She smiled happily, waving at Rachel through the screen. "I miss you!"

"I miss you too, sweetie." Rachel smiled at her. "Have you been being good for your mom?"

"Yes," She said as Santana wrapped her arms around the little girl's body. "We went shopping for a sleeping bag today! Mine has Spider-man on it!"

"Spider-man, huh?" Rachel laughed softly. "That sounds really cool, Brooklyn. I'm sure you're going to be the warmest person at the camp. Are you looking forward to it?"

"Yes, mommy keeps grumbling about peeing in the woods!" She giggled. "I keep telling her we are not in tents, we have a little house."

"Still out in the damn woods," she mumbled, her chin resting on Brooklyn's shoulder.

"Your mommy's right. The woods are not comfy like a hotel." Rachel chuckled, smirking at Santana. "Make sure to give your mom lots of extra cuddles for me while you're out there. I'm going to miss talking to you two so much while you're in the woods!"

"You can call mommy's phone right?" Brooklyn asked worriedly. "Right?"

"I'll try, but we don't know if your mom's phone can get any signal out there yet," Rachel explained. "If I can't, you'll tell me all about your adventures when you get back, right?"

"Okay," she pouted, but was quickly distracted by thoughts of ponies and camping. "I get to ride a pony and go swimming in the lake." She said excitedly.

"Oh that sounds like fun! I wish I could see it," she said, smiling at her. "Maybe your mom will take pictures or video?" She looked at Santana curiously.

"Of course I will." Santana smiled. "I'll send them to you as soon as we get home."

Rachel shook her head, "No, save them until we're together again. I'd like that a lot more. It's just not as much fun to look at pictures and things like that alone." She smiled lopsidedly with a little shrug.

"When are you coming back to New York?" Brooklyn asked. "I want to be here with you."

"Hopefully not too much longer. You and your mom are still going to come out with Quinn and Jay for Christmas break, right?"

"I think so." Brooklyn looked up in question and smiled when Santana nodded. "Yes! But how will Santa find me if I'm not at my house?"

"Santa always knows, sweetie. _He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake_ ," she sang with a smile. "He keeps an eye on all the boys and girls. That's how he found you last year at my home, remember?"

"Oh yeah." She smiled happily, remembering with a nod. "I just want to see you for Christmas," she said and blew kisses to Rachel with both hands. "I'm gonna go play. I talk to you tomorrow?"

"Okay, but don't forget it's bedtime soon," Rachel reminded her gently. "Don't give your mom a hard time about going to sleep or I'll be sad."

Brooklyn pouted and nodded. "Love you, Rachie! Sleep good!" She smiled and waved at the screen.

"Love you too, sweetie." She blew her a kiss. "Sleep well tonight."

Brooklyn blew a kiss and ran back into her room. "That child..." Santana smiled as she looked at Rachel's face.

"Is adorable and I wouldn't change a thing about her," Rachel finished, smiling at Santana. "I wish I was there with the two of you."

"That would be nice," she said softly. "You know how much better I sleep when you're here."

"Me too. But we're working hard and hopefully it won't be too much longer. I'm looking forward to spending the holidays with you out here though and before you suggest it, I don't _care_ what the studio thinks. They don't get to dictate who my family is or who I can spend the holidays with."

"Of course. We wouldn't want to go anywhere else. Though, I kind of wish you could just come back to New York for the holidays," Santana said softly.

"I'm doing my best to come home as soon as I can, Santana," Rachel murmured softly with a sad smile.

"I know." She looked down and picked up a notebook with a picture of a flower she had drawn. "Flowers for you."

Rachel smiled softly at the picture, reaching out as if she could touch it before remembering at the last moment and letting her hand fall. "It's beautiful, Santana. Thank you."

"I'll mail it to you." Santana smiled. "Along with the other things I draw when I can't sleep."

"I'll keep them in a scrapbook by my bed to look at when I can't sleep." Rachel smiled lopsidedly. "I love you," she whispered after a moment, looking off to the side when the sound of a knock filtered through the microphone. When she turned back, she was smiling sadly. "Ray's here. I guess I have to go..."

"Have fun okay?" Santana whispered. "Te amo," she said nervously, not having said I love you before.

Rachel smiled shyly, but didn't press Santana on what she'd said to avoid scaring her off. "I wish I was going out with you. Maybe someday after I come home we can go on something more like a real date?"

"Please." Santana smiled. "Go have fun with Ray. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"I send you a text when I get home." She blew Santana a kiss. "Love you, Santana. Sleep well."

"Night." She smiled before closing her computer and going and sliding onto Brooklyn's bed behind her. "Tell me a story, baby girl."

"What kinda story, Mommy?" Brooklyn asked, snuggling back into the comfort of her mom's embrace.

"Anything you want," she said closing her eyes and resting her head against her daughter's body.

"Can I tell a story about kittens?" she asked. "I like kittens. Do you think we could get a kitten when Rachie comes home?"

"Maybe," she murmured. "You gotta prove that you're a big girl and can take care it it though."

"I can be big!" She clapped excitedly. "Okay! Story time! Once upon a time there was an itty bitty kitty. She was just a baby kitty but her mommy was a big kitty and very brave."

"Really now?" Santana smiled softly, kissing the back of Brooklyn's head. "Did the kitten frolic and play? Or did she like to sleep?"

Brooklyn giggled. "She liked to play but her mommy kitty liked to sleep lots."

"Maybe her mommy kitty was tired from working and running after her baby," she teased.

"Maybe," she giggled, squirming a bit. "All the other baby kitties at school said the itty bitty kitty needed a dog, but she didn't want a dog." She looked up at her mom with a smile. "She wanted another kitty mommy to make her mommy laugh and smile."

Santana's eyes opened and tried to follow along, suddenly realizing this wasn't just a random kitten story. "Okay," she said softly, "that sounds good."

Brooklyn nodded. "Uh-huh. The itty bitty kitty didn't need a daddy dog. She wanted two kitty mommies to cuddle with. Then one day her mommy kitty met a pretty brown and white kitty."

"Did she now?" Santana asked softly. "You like the idea of two mommy kitties? No doggies?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, "two mommy kitties is the best. The pretty brown and white kitty had a yellow kitty friend, but the yellow kitty liked doggies and the itty bitty kitty made her nervous. The pretty brown and white kitty loved the itty bitty kitty though and played with her lots."

"That's what mommy kitties do, beautiful." She smiled and nuzzled her neck.

"The pretty brown and white kitty would be a good mommy, I think." Brooklyn nodded, snuggling with her mom and giggling as Santana's breath tickled her. "But she had to go away and the itty bitty kitty and her mommy kitty were sads. They could talks to her on the magic box, but they was still sads without her."

"I'm pretty sure this story ends with the other kitty coming back to the mommy and baby," Santana teased. "Then the mommy kitty and her kitten will be happy?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, curling into her mom, "and then they all lives together happily ever after and have more baby kitties!"

"You are one crazy, kitten," she whispered, kissing her daughter's face.

"I'm itty bitty and you loves me." Brooklyn grinned up at her, wrinkling her nose. "We lives with Rachie when she comes home, right?"

"We'll see," she whispered. "We need to ask her when she comes home," she added, kissing her nose.

"Hope she says yes," she yawned. "Everybody happiest when Rachie's with us."

"This is true, little one," she whispered as she kissed her daughters eyelids. "You are my favorite thing, Brooklyn. You know how much Mommy loves you, right?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, closing her eyes and snuggling into Santana's chest, "I loves you most too. And we loves Rachie."

"That we do, Brooklyn," she said as she cuddled with her. "Baby? Can Mommy sleep with you for awhile?"

"Please?" Brooklyn yawned, squirming around until she could hug her mom and close her eyes. "I like when you sleeps with me, Mommy."

"I like it too," she said as she held the little girl to her chest and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Quinn was leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed and her fingers tangled in her hair when Jay got to her office door. He smiled softly, watching her for a moment before knocking gently on the door frame and holding out the small bundle of lilies he'd brought for her.

"Hi there, angel," he murmured, coming in to lean down and kiss her. "I've missed you this past week."

She smiled and sat up. "Hey, you," she said softly. "I didn't know you were stopping by or I would have looked better today."

"I know, but I think you look beautiful anyway," he smiled lopsidedly down at her, offering the flowers. "I just got off work a bit ago and saw these as I was heading home and thought of you. Want to get some lunch or would dinner be more appropriate at this hour?"

"Dinner," she said, "and I would love to have dinner with you." She moved to tuck herself in his arms and sigh. "This week has been hell."

He held her close and took a deep breath of the warm scent of her, his nose lightly nuzzling the top of her head. "Well, it hasn't exactly been hell for me, but it's certainly been long. I'd love to listen if you want to talk though." He pulled back to smile down at her. "Are you done for the day? Think you'd like to come home with me after dinner?"

"Please," she said, "I'm more than over today." She sighed.

"Come on," he murmured, grabbing her jacket and helping her into it. "Let's go so I can get some food into you and you can tell me what's on your mind, okay?"

She nodded and followed him out. Once they got to a small Thai place and sighed. "Rachel is pissed at me."

"Now what?" He smiled at her easily, helping her into a seat before taking his own. "I got the feeling that was kind of part of the dynamic you to have. Half the time you seem like you want to slap each other and then half of the rest of the time I'm half afraid you're cheating on me," he grinned to let her know he was just joking, "while the rest you actually seem friends. So what's going on with the mighty midget?"

"While at the beach with the kid and San, someone got and sold photo of them. The studios pissed and San had to quit." She sighed. "So because I pushed I'm the bad guy."

"You pushed?" He cocked a brow at her, confused. "You pushed what? I'd think she'd be more pissed at the studio and isn't that kind of thing illegal out there? You know, sexual orientation discrimination and all."

"It's part of the contact that she signed. Which is also my fault." Quinn sighed. "They don't _blatantly_ discriminate. They just make life hell and make her crazy until the film is over."

"Well, don't work with them again." He shrugged. "Santana and her seemed pretty tight when I saw them last. Doubt this will faze them in the long run." He smiled at the waiter when he came over and ordered.

"Maybe not," she sighed, "but this whole thing was my fault... and I'm not sure Santana even wants to be out in public with Rachel."

"Does _Rachel_ want to be out in public?" he asked, squeezing the lemon that came with his tea into it and gesturing to her with the rind before dropping it in the glass. "I mean, that's kind of something they need to work out between themselves, don't you think?"

"She wanted to be public with me," Quinn shrugged. "San just gets nervous at the thought..."

"Okay, but you're not Santana either," he pointed out, taking a sip of his tea. "Just because she wanted something with you doesn't necessarily mean she wants the exact same thing with Santana. I mean, they got a little girl to think of too. You didn't," he shrugged, "and I'm not referring to your little girl. That's a different scenario."

"I know, Jay," Quinn said as her red curry came. "What about you? I miss you. What's been going on?"

He rubbed his face and shrugged. "What hasn't? Morgan was out on family leave to take care of her kids when they got sick and Greg had to go out of town for family so I've been working with pretty much any warm body they could find to partner me. Kind of stressful when you don't really know your partner and you have to go in a house on a domestic."

"Just be careful... I don't think I could handle you getting hurt," she said softly.

"Of course I'm careful." He reached across the table to squeeze her hand, smiling softly. "I wear that awful vest all the time and even popped for side plates because I want to be able to come home to you. I just don't like not having Morgan at my back. I trust her, you know?"

"Does this mean you'll finally leave Queens and move in with me? Save you time coming home," she teased bashfully.

"You want me to?" he asked shyly. "I only have another month before my lease is up if you do..."

"I think that my place would very much enjoy having a officer of the law around, and I have several things that need fixing," she teased as she took a bite of her food.

"I don't know how handy I am," he laughed before smiling lopsidedly, "but I know I'd love to come home to you after a long shift. Love to wake up to you more often too. Sure your place is big enough for the both of us though?"

"We could look for another place if you want... my building may have something," she said as she watched him. "But I'd love to have you there with me everyday either way."

"Quinn," he reached across the table for her hand, smiling softly, "I'd happily live in a tiny one room walk up if it meant I got to have you with me every day. We don't have to look for another place, just a storage unit for some of my furniture. Okay?"

"We can think about what we want. It'll be your place too..." She smiled at the words. "I like saying that."

He grinned at her. "I like hearing you say it. But I like your place. And we can always look for somewhere else if we decide it's too small, right?"

"Mmhm," Quinn smiled, "so... any odd habits I should know before we live together?"

"Um," he thought about it, eating his food for a bit. "You mean any that my sisters or mom haven't already blabbed to you?" he teased. "I don't know. I work crazy hours and occasionally talk to myself after work... but then, I'd have you around to talk to, now wouldn't I?"

"Very true," she smirked, "I kinda like the thought of you climbing into bed when you're done on a late night."

"I like the thought of knowing you'll be there to climb in with," he admitted with a shy grin. "And maybe sometimes you'll be the one coming home to me. Kind of like that idea too."

"I think this is a very good idea and you should come home with me tonight." She smirked.

"I think that sounds like a great idea," he agreed with a smirk of his own. "As does the fact that tomorrow is my scheduled rest day. How do you like the idea of my bringing you lunch if I can't talk you out of going in to work?"

"Sounds perfect."

"So, it's settled?" He raised a brow, smiling lopsidedly. "At the end of the month, I give up my apartment and just... move in with you? Because if it is, I have to tell you that I'll probably be looking for a storage facility and begging my buddies to help me get my stuff packed up by the end of the week."

"Awesome. I'll start cleaning and putting stuff into Goodwill."

"Want any help with that?" he offered. "You know you're more than welcome to help with the accumulated detritus of my single life if you want," he teased.

"This could be fun," she said. "I like the idea of helping each other move."

He laughed. "Wait until you see the random assortment of things I've managed to collect over the years."

"Same," she smirked around a forkful of curry, "though mine are probably dirtier than yours unless you have a porn collection," she teased.

He ate a bite, raising a brow curiously. "Are you suggesting you do, Miss Fabray? Or am I hearing hints of naughty toys?"

"I'm a lady," she blushed, "I will not validate that in an answer."

"You're _my_ lady," he reminded her with a teasing smirk, reaching over to squeeze her hand, "and why not? Could be fun, right?"

"I'm not talking about this," Quinn said shyly, as she moved her curry around in her bowl with her spoon. "Not in public."

"Oh," he murmured, turning back to his food with a blush darkening his cheeks. "Sorry, Quinn. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"We can talk about it at home," she said reaching out and holding his hand.

"I like the sound of that," he murmured, smiling shyly at her. "Hearing you call it home, that is."

"Not the talking about dirty things?" she whispered and bit her lip.

"Talking about dirty things can wait for _home_ , don't you think?" He grinned at her, letting a finger trail over the inside of her wrist. "Plenty of time to explore those sorts of things in private..."

She nodded and continued to bite her lip, as she watched his finger trail along her skin. "Can we go home now?"

"Sure. Just let me pay and we can be on our way." Picking up the bill off the table, he smiled at her and headed over to the counter to pay.

She gathered her bag and followed him up to the front and slid his arm around her shoulders.

He smiled down at her as he accepted his change and led them back out to his bike. "Ready to go home, angel?" he asked, offering her helmet with a smile.

She nodded and put it on and slid on behind him. She snuggled into his back and wound her arms around his waist as he headed towards her building.

Pulling up, he headed back to the tenant parking and pulled into her spot before kicking the bike up on its stand and shutting it down. Smiling back at her, he pulled off his helmet and reached back to help her off before getting off himself. "Have to say," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her gently, "I'm rather intrigued to learn about your dirty side, angel."

"How do you know it's not just a lie?" She teased as she headed inside, she kicked off her shoes and put down her bag. "Or maybe I have a drawer of toys for when you work long nights."

"Well, if it _is_ just a lie, maybe I should teach you not to tease your boyfriend," he teased, reaching out and pulling her against him. "And if it _isn't_ ," his voice lowered, "well, maybe you should show me?"

"Y-you... don't think it's gross?" she asked shyly, as she leaned against him.

"Why would I think it's gross?" he raised a brow, curiously. "I find you incredibly sexy, Quinn. I can't even imagine you doing something sexual that I could possibly find gross."

She shrugged, "Because it's..." she almost said wrong but she just pulled him into her bedroom.

"Because it's what, Quinn?" he asked softly, following her.

"Wrong," she mumbled and sat down, not liking her insecurities being exposed.

"That's silly," he murmured, sitting down next to her with a soft smile. "There's nothing wrong with finding how you like to be pleasured by experimenting on yourself." He reached over and lifted her chin. "You don't think it's wrong that I touch myself sometimes when I can't be with you, do you? Or that I imagine you while I do," he admitted softly, with a blush.

"No... but you're a guy," she said softly. "You're allowed."

"Quinn, if there's anything growing up surrounded by women taught me, it's that men don't have any special permissions that women aren't allowed," he reassured her. "Men are no different from women except that we're not strong enough to bear a child. The Good Lord knows that I'd sooner be beaten to death than try to experience even a fraction of _that_ pain!" He grinned, trying to cheer her up.

"You are odd," she said, resting her head on his shoulder. "I was told it was wrong growing up. Rachel was the one who tried to tell me it was okay when I was pregnant."

He laughed. " _Rachel_ did? No wonder she was your gateway into the wonderful world of lady love," he teased. "Does she have an ounce of modesty in her?"

"Not when it comes to sex." She smirked, shaking her head in memory. "Did you think about that when you were all alone, _touching_ yourself?" she asked as she ran her hand over the length of him under his pants.

"Maybe," he whispered, watching her, "but you better be careful what you start, angel. I thought you were going to tell me about your dirty side?"

"My time spent fucking Rachel isn't dirty enough?" she asked innocently.

"Mmm," he murmured, stroking her chin with his thumb, "I prefer to think of you alone when you're not with me, actually. I imagine it's a beautiful sight," he whispered, feeling himself stirring as he thought of it. "You on your bed... naked... alone... your fingers working over your breasts and between your legs," his voice deepened, growing husky with want. "I like it. I can imagine you're preparing yourself to be with me that way. Makes it more," he licked his lips, a hand slipping down to grip his thigh, " _enjoyable_."

She whimpered at his words. "You'd like that wouldn't you," she husked. "Maybe I'll have to let you walk in on that one day."

"I think I'd enjoy that," he breathed, watching her closely. "I'd especially enjoy being able to come in, taking off my clothes and pulling a condom on before crawling on top of your naked body," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her gently.

"W-would I just be using my fingers?" she asked as she squeezed his hardening length.

He drew in a shaky breath. "W-well, that's all I've had to imagine up until you suggested otherwise. Why don't you tell me what you'd use?"

"I..." She licked her lips, "I.. have a... thing... it vibrates," she said softly. "And like a thing for penetration."

"So you have," he raised a brow with a little smirk, "two... _things_? Do they look... real?"

"Uh, the inside one," she said with a blush rolling back to her nightstand and opening it and taking out a 6 inch yellow dildo and then a small device. "This just goes on my clit and vibrates."

"Amazing," he whispered, looking them over with a tiny smirk. "Think you could show me how they work some time?" He licked his lips. "So I can imagine it better after all..."

She nodded nervously with a shy smile. "Y-yeah I could," she said, "but not tonight right?"

He shook his head, reaching over to stroke her cheek. "Not tonight," he husked, leaning in to kiss her.

She pushed the toys off the bed and kissed him back, her hand sliding back onto his thigh and stroking him once more.

"Quinn," he breathed, a hand dropping to cover hers over his hardening member, "don't unless you're prepared for what will follow."

"Why wouldn't I be prepared?" she asked curiously.

He smiled slowly. "I just like to be sure." He pushed her back gently, hovering over her for a moment before leaning in to kiss her, "Shall I undress you, angel?"

"Please," she whispered against his lips.

He kissed her slowly as he let his hands trail down to carefully undo the buttons of her shirt one by one before tugging it from the waistband of her skirt. "I love you," he whispered as those same fingers found the clasp of the skirt and fumbled it open, sliding inside the waistband to push it down over her hips.

She lifted her hips and smiled, watching him. "I love you too."

Pushing the skirt down off her legs, he reached back up to help her sit up so he could slide her shirt off, leaving her in just her undergarments. "So beautiful," he breathed, his eyes roaming over her pale skin. Kneeling beside her, he kissed her, tongue brushing over her lower lip and begging entrance as he reached behind her to unsnap her bra and slide it off.

She kissed him deeply, a soft whimper coming out when he slid her bra down her arms and threw onto the floor. She wrapped a leg around his hips and pulled him closer.

He pressed himself against her almost bare body, the cotton of his shirt rough against her sensitive nipples as they kissed. His hands slid down her sides, callouses lightly scraping soft skin as he reached her panties and hooked his fingers into the waistband, beginning the slow push to remove the last barrier from her body.

"Jay," She breathed, tugging at his shirt. "Off."

He chuckled softly, crawling off the bed as he tugged her panties down and off her body. When he finally got them off, he dropped them to the floor and stood at the side of the bed watching her with a smile as he worked to undo his shirt and pull it off. The bulge of his arousal was noticeably tenting his slacks as he worked his belt free. "Condom?" he asked, knowing he had one in his wallet, but wanting to know if she had any too.

"Drawer." She pointed to the nightstand and took over where his hands were undoing the belt. She leaned forward and kissed his stomach and worked his slacks down to the floor.

"God, woman," he gasped, reaching for the nightstand and fumbling for the strip of condoms inside, "what you do to me..."

She smiled and carefully slid him out of his boxers and licked his length. "What do I do to you?"

"God," he moaned, his stomach muscles jumping as he fought to control his reaction. "You're going to make me come if you keep that up," he muttered, ripping a condom off the strip but dropping it on the bed between them, "dammit..."

She just chuckled and took him into her mouth and sucked slightly as she watched his face.

"Fuck," he hissed, one hand going to her bedpost to keep himself upright. "Quinn," he whined, "I want to make love to you... this isn't h-helping, angel..."

She let his damp member slide out of her mouth and she slid back on the bed and raised her eyebrow. "Okay."

"Devil," he grumbled, picking up the condom and tearing it open before fumbling it onto his member. "You're lucky I love you sometimes," he teased, crawling over her to kiss her. "Guide me in?" he whispered, taking one of her hands and tugging it between them to press it against his erection.

She nodded and slid her thumb over the tip then slid it through her wet folds. She teased her clit first while she watched his face.

His eyes were half open as he struggled to keep control, his lips slightly parted as he panted. "Quinn," he whispered, reaching between them to stroke her clit with his fingers to try and encourage her to move on, "please... angel, please let me be inside you."

She nodded and slid him down and nudge his head inside with a whimper. "B-babe," she moaned as her hips started to rock.

He groaned as he finally felt himself sinking into her tight channel. "God, Quinn," he mumbled as he slid inside until they were hip to hip, the tip of his head just barely brushing the bottom of her channel, "you feel amazing."

She whimpered, her hips rocking. "You feel so," she started but was cut off by a moan. "God, I love you."

He kept himself mostly propped up on one arm so he wasn't crushing her with the weight of his body as he began to move, sliding in and out of her, but he lowered himself until their chests were pressing against each other as he moved to kiss and nip along her neck and shoulder. His free hand moved between them, stroking over her clit in an almost erratic counterpart to his thrusts.

"C-close," he groaned against her skin as the sensations of being gripped in her wet warmth began to overwhelm his control.

She nodded and reached over to her nipple and tugged as she arched up into him.

He panted, his face buried in the crook of her neck as he moved with increasing urgency, feeling the pressure of his impending orgasm building. "Oh god," he panted, trying to maintain enough coherence to pinch and tug gently on her clit as he thrust faster and increasingly more erratically.

Quinn rocked with him, urging him deeper and harder. She gasped out a moan as her back arched and she started shivering. She was close, her hand twisted and tugged on her nipple as she got closer to her climax.

He fumbled, trying to help her by lowering himself and arching his back to let him keep the pace and depth as his lips found her neglected breast in a hard kiss. He was too close to the edge for the typical gentleness, but there was still an edge of restraint that kept him from being too rough as he sucked and tugged at the stiff peak.

"Harder," She groaned, needed that last bit to get her over the edge.

He let out a sound around her nipple that was half groan and half whimper as he clung to control by the skin of his teeth. Nipping at her, he caught the tip of rosy flesh between his teeth and tugged, lashing it with his tongue as he started falling over the edge with erratic thrusts that sank all the way to the bottom of her core. He could feel his release ready to burst out of him and pinched her clit roughly as he bit at her with just barely controlled roughness as he tried to push her over the edge with him.

She gasped, a muffled scream into his shoulder signaled her release. Her body quaked as she tumbled over the edge of pleasure. Feeling her clench around him, he let go with a grunt, releasing his seed into the condom as her breast fell from his mouth so he could all but collapsed on top of her, barely rolling slightly to the side to avoid his full weight on her.

"Oh God," he panted with a lazy smile as his free hand reached up to gently cup one of her breasts, "please say that can be a regular part of living together. I do believe I would like that _very_ much if it could."

"Please," She groaned as she snuggled into him. "Some day you'll have to surprise me with this... or I'll wake you up with sex."

"I have to _surprise_ you with sex now?" He laughed tiredly, rolling over so Quinn was on top of him. "What am I supposed to do? Be waiting on the bed like your police officer Adonis all naked and oiled and stroking myself hard while waiting for you?" he teased.

Quinn thought about it for a minute then smirked. "Yes."

"Demanding wench," he growled with a smirk, pulling her down into a kiss. "What next? Role play with my uniform? Or coming to bed in just my duty belt and cap?"

"Handcuffs," she said softly as she kissed him.

"Oh don't tease." He laughed. "Who'd be the one being arrested here, Miss Fabray? You or me?"

"You," she said, "I like being in control."

"Oh," he smirked, running his hands over her sides and back, "I think I can definitely get behind that plan. Might need to buy a second set of cuffs though. Zip-ties chafe and if we're going to play that game, might as well look authentic don't you think?"

She smirked. "I want the real ones," she said, "I want to do anything I want to you."

"I think I could live with that." He smirked up at her, squeezing her hips. "Better be on a night before a day off though, cause I don't think I could go to work after that."

She smirked as she nipped at his lips. "Okay," she said as she held him close.


	30. Chapter 30

This time when they landed, Rachel was waiting for them by the baggage carousel. She had an over-sized hat and sunglasses on in an attempt to avoid being recognized, but she was done with the studio trying to demand that she continue lying about everything. And besides, she wanted to pick up the people she was rapidly beginning to think of as her family for once.

Quinn and Jay would be flying down the day after Christmas so they could spend it out at his family's place. It'd been hard enough getting the holidays off and he knew he wouldn't be able to pull it off again for a while, so he was determined to make the most of it with a West Coast vacation. So as Rachel checked her watch and the arrival board one more time, she tried to keep herself from showing her excitement at getting to see Brooklyn and Santana again - not to mention her big news.

Santana carried her sleeping daughter in her arms as she headed down to collect their bags. She had a simple pair of leggings and boots on with an over-sized grey sweater. Brooklyn had on overalls and a long sleeved shirt. New York had been freezing cold and she was looking forward to the warmth of LA.

"Santana," Rachel called softly when she saw them, pushing off the wall she'd been leaning against with a smile and waving. "Over here."

Santana looked up and smiled, she headed over to Rachel. "Hey, you," she whispered, not sure if she should hug her girlfriend, "I missed you."

"I missed you too," she whispered back, smiling brightly at Santana and pulling her into a hug with Brooklyn half squished between them. "I'm glad you're here. Come on, let's get your things and go home."

The mother smiled and pointed out her and Brooklyn's bags. She dragged hers and let Rachel take the tiny purple one as they headed to the car. Once they slid in, Santana leaned over and kissed Rachel softly. "Hi."

"You can do better than that," Rachel teased, pulling her in for a firmer kiss. "I've been looking forward to sleeping beside you all week you know. I got a car seat for her," she hooked a thumb towards the backseat, "and I'll drive so you can sleep if you want. Sound good?"

"Thank you," Santana grumbled tiredly as she put Brooklyn into the seat. "She was hell on wheels again."

"Well, maybe when you hear the news I have, it'll improve the flight home?" she suggested with a smirk, getting their bags settled so they wouldn't slide around before moving to climb into the driver's seat. "Ready to go?"

"Please," she said as she slid in the front seat and took Rachel's hand. "Tell me you have today off?"

"I do. In fact," she grinned at Santana brightly, squeezing her hand before starting the car, "I have the entire length of your visit off. How do you like the sound of that?"

"Amazing, I hate when we were alone here without you." She smiled tiredly. "Can we lie down when we get home? Brooke has been a terror... between missing you, excitement about the trip, Christmas and her birthday... She's been driving me crazy."

Rachel laughed softly. "Well, you're here now so I can help handle her and give you a break. Plus I've been getting things together so we can decorate for the holidays once you two are rested." She smiled lopsidedly. "It just didn't feel right to decorate without my loved ones there to help."

Santana smiled. "She'll love it." She closed her eyes and let the warmth of the sun shine through the window onto her.

"I miss New York," she murmured, "but I know how much you love the sun, so... consider this sort of part of a gift to you." She reached over and laced her fingers with Santana's. "I could have flown back to spend the holidays with the two of you there after all," she teased.

"I know, but you have your film and it's a short visit sadly," Santana pouted. "I wouldn't let you leave if you'd come back."

She laughed, tugging Santana's hand up to kiss the back of it as she carefully navigated the LA traffic. "Oh, don't worry about the film. That's part of my big news." She waved off Santana's curious expression with a smile. "I'll tell you when we're home and comfortable."

She nodded. "I'm happy to see you." She yawned before drifting off.

"Not as happy as I am," Rachel murmured, glancing over with a soft smile before turning her attention back to the road.

* * *

It was nearly a hour and a half later before they pulled into the driveway to Rachel's condo. Ray was heading inside and he waved as Rachel parked the car before closing the door behind him. Smiling at her sleeping girlfriend, she reached over and shook her gently.

"Santana," she murmured. "Santana, we're home. Wake up, baby. I can carry Brooklyn in, but you're a little too large of a package for me to handle."

"I'll handle your large," She mumbled softly as she fought waking up.

"You'll handle my large _what_?" she laughed, getting out and moving to unbuckle a sleepily protesting Brooklyn from her seat. "Shh, sweetie. It's your Rachie. I'm just going to take you inside so you can sleep. Okay, Brooklyn?"

"Momma?" she asked tiredly as she snuggled into Rachel. "Sleeps with you and mommy?"

"Your mommy's coming," Rachel whispered, stroking a hand over Brooklyn's hair as she walked up to her door and fumbled with her keys to let them in. "Maybe we can all snuggle together for a while but I've got to get your bags in first, okay?"

"No," she protested. "No bags, just sleep with me. Don't leave?" she asked softly as a groggy Santana walked into the house behind them.

"I promise I'm not leaving," Rachel reassured her, leading Santana back to her bedroom so her and her daughter could snuggle in her bed. "I just want to get your things in and change my clothes so we can sleep together. Okay? I promise I'll come cuddle as soon as that's done."

Santana pulled Brooklyn's shoes off, then her own followed by the heavy sweater. She helped Brooklyn onto the bed before flopping down face first. Brooklyn snuggled into Santana's side and watched Rachel. "Hurry? Mommy's really tired..."

"I'll hurry," she whispered, leaning down to kiss Brooklyn's forehead before heading back out to the car to get their bags and Brooklyn's car seat. Putting Brooklyn's bag in her room, she carried Santana's larger one up into her bedroom and set it in the corner before moving to change into her lounge clothes from her jeans and tank top.

Once that was done, she crawled into bed and wrapped an arm around the two already half awake. "Thank you for coming," she whispered, kissing their cheeks slightly awkwardly before snuggling in. "I've missed you two so much."

"Missed you too," Brooklyn said, loving being back with both women to hug her.

"Go to sleep, sweetie," Rachel whispered. "I'll be here when you wake up. I promise."

She nodded and drifted off.

* * *

Later - after a bit of wrestling with the four foot tall artificial tree that was deceptively difficult to assemble - the little almost-a-family was doing their best to decorate the house for the upcoming celebration. Garland was wound through the banisters of the stairs and lights hung in likely more places than they really belonged and tinsel was so liberally festooned about that Rachel wasn't sure it'd ever get cleaned up all the way. But it was the holidays and she had the people she loved most there helping her, so she didn't really care how messy and chaotic it was.

"Brooklyn, do you want to help me put the star on the tree?" she asked, holding out a big gold star she'd found to be a tree topper.

"Can I?" Brooklyn beamed as she nodded. "Please, please." She exclaimed as she reached for it.

"Hold on to it tight so you don't drop it and I'll lift you up, okay?" Rachel smiled at her, handing her the star. Crouching down behind her, she got a grip on her waist, "Ready?"

"Yes!" She beamed as Rachel lifted her up. Santana stood off to the side and snapped photos of the event. "Look, mommy!"

"I see you, baby! Good job!." Santana exclaimed as as took another photo.

"Those are going strictly in our scrapbooks, I hope," Rachel teased setting Brooklyn back down once she'd gotten the star twisted on. Smiling, she walked over and gently pushed the camera aside to pull Santana down towards her. "Can I have a kiss or would you prefer more privacy from certain little eyes?"

"It's okay." Santana said softly as she pressed a soft kiss to Rachel's lips.

"Good," she murmured, smiling up at Santana, "because I'm not sure how well I'd be able to resist if it wasn't. Are you going to help us decorate or keep playing with your camera? If you insist on the camera, be sure to get my good side, okay?"

"Legs and ass?" Santana smirked as she looked at her girlfriend's backside. "But I like documenting Brooklyn's holidays..."

"Santana!" Rachel scolded with a laugh, reaching out to playfully slap at her. "You _do_ realize your daughter is _right_ there, right? Get over here and be part of the holiday. You can still document it if you want. And besides," she leaned in to kiss her with a smile, "maybe I can borrow this," she pointed out, plucking the camera away, "and document my two favorite girls enjoying their first ever Christmas in LA where it's nice and warm. What do you say?"

Santana just rolled her eyes and slid onto the floor with her daughter and helped her as they unpacked some of the ornaments.

"I hope those are okay," she fretted, snapping a couple shots of mom and daughter hanging ornaments on the tree. "Maybe next year we can find some together, um... I mean, if..." she blushed trailing off with a shy smile, not wanting to overstep.

"We have a few things, like Brooklyn's first Christmas ornament.. but yet, we should get some new stuff next year." She smiled and ran her hand through Brooklyn's hair.

"I like the sound of that." Rachel grinned, coming over to sit beside them and help Brooklyn out by fixing hooks to ornaments. "Is there any special dish you'd like for Christmas dinner, Brooklyn? If it's not too complicated, maybe we could work together and let your mom relax?"

"Mommy and me always make mac and cheese, not the box kind but the fancy stuff!" She beamed causing Santana to look down knowing that it wasn't what her daughter deserved, that it was a far cry from what she grew up having on Christmas dinners.

"That sounds tasty," Rachel said, smiling cheerfully at her. "Maybe we can make one of those little chickens for you and your mom to split to go with it? And some green beans? Does that sound good?"

"Why don't I make tamales?" Santana offered. "They can be made vegan and they're traditional for Latinos to do around the holidays. Do you wanna do some of the Jewish things too?" Santana offered. "Maybe teach Brooklyn about your heritage?"

Rachel's smile seemed to brighten as she looked over at Santana, "Really? I'd love to do that. Perhaps something simple that Brooklyn can help with like _latkes_? Many of the recipes I'm familiar with are vegan variants, but I could ask my father to email me some traditional recipes if you'd like to explore my heritage's cooking."

"We can do the vegan ones," Santana said as she pulled Brooke onto her lap. "It's just like potatoes and what have you, right? We can make a mixture."

"What's _latkes_?" Brooklyn asked as she looked up to Rachel.

"They're little pancakes made of shredded potatoes and sometimes veggies fried in oil," Rachel explained. "They're traditionally eaten around Hanukkah and the oil they're cooked in is supposed to represent the blessed oil that burned for eight days until more could be made while the Holy Temple was being cleaned and blessed in Jerusalem a long time ago."

The small girl looked confused. "I don't understand... when is... Han... Han..." she tried to pronounce it.

"Hanukkah," Rachel smiled. "It's one of the big holidays of my faith and it's actually happening now. I'm Jewish so I actually celebrate Hanukkah and not Christmas. Has your mom told you that?"

"Right now?" She looked concerned. "But... but it's _Christmas!_ " She looked up to Santana worriedly.

"They sometimes happen on the same days, babe. Your friends Eli and Adam at school are Jewish, remember?" Santana asked as she looked down to her daughter.

"But... Christmas is baby Jesus's birthday..."

"It can still be baby Jesus's birthday, sweetie," Rachel reassured her. "Hanukkah represents when my people managed to take the Holy Temple back from the people who were trying to destroy it and made it clean so we could worship the Lord in it again. It's not always right now but it's ending just before Christmas this year too. Today's the last day."

Brooklyn just blinked, still not totally following. "O-okay..." she said, unsure. "We can still have Christmas right?"

"Yes." Santana chuckled. "Yes, Christmas will still happen."

"It's baby Jesus's birthday after all, right?" Rachel smiled at her, leaning over to give her a hug. "Birthdays are on the same day every year no matter what other holidays are around them."

She nodded and played with the ends of Rachel's hair. "Can we watch Rudolph tonight?"

"Definitely." She nodded, hugging her close. "You brought your Bumble to watch with, right? Whose lap are you going to sit on?"

The little girl looked between her mom and Rachel, after a few moments she looked upset and like she was about to cry. "I don't know! Don't want to pick!" she cried.

"Brooklyn, don't be upset," Santana said as she tried to calm her child down.

"Don't cry, sweetie," Rachel soothed. "You don't have to pick. How about your mom and I sit right next to each other and you can lay on both of our laps? Or you can sit between us. How's that sound?"

Brooklyn cried and nodded. "Mariposa don't be upset," Santana said. "Are you tired? Is that why you're upset?"

"Maybe hungry?" Rachel suggested, worriedly. "We've been working awfully hard and it is getting time for a meal, don't you think, Santana?"

"I think it's lunchtime," Santana said. "Why don't I make something and you finish decorating with Rachel, baby," she said as she pressed a kiss to her daughters hair, "Then maybe you can lie down so you can watch movies tonight."

Brooklyn sniffled, wiping at her face. "O-okay," she hiccuped. "Rachie nap with me?"

Rachel smiled down at her. "For a little while, sure. Come on, no more tears." She wiped Brooklyn's face with her thumb. "You don't have to pick between your mommy and me ever, sweetie. I promise."

"I love you both so much it," she sniffled and crawled into Rachel's lap, "made me sad to pick," she said softly as Santana went into the kitchen to make some lunch as Brooklyn talked to Rachel.

"Well, you don't have to pick, sweetie," Rachel reassured her, kissing the top of her head as she held her. "And you know neither your mom nor I would think you loved us any less if you wanted to sit in the other's lap while we all watched a movie together. You know we love you more than anything, right?"

Brooklyn nodded. "Not used to anyone but Mommy loving me." she admitted. "Confuses me sometimes."

"It's okay to be confused," she reassured her. "But I promise you that I'll always love you, no matter what, okay?"

She nodded and took a breath. "I try to remember."

"Don't worry," she ruffled her hair with a smile, "I'll remind you any time you forget, okay? And soon I'll be home and you'll get to see me a _lot_ more again."

"Good," Brooklyn stated. "Want you home."

"I want to be home too," Rachel whispered, hugging her tight. "Home with you and your mom. I want that more than anything."

A few minutes later Santana came back in with three plates with sandwiches, fruit and a cookie on them. "Grilled cheese for Brooklyn, Cucumber and hummus for Rachel and grilled cheese with tomatoes for me."

Rachel accepted her plate with a smile, leaning up for a kiss. "Have I mentioned that I love you lately? Because I do. Thank you for the sandwich, Santana."

She blushed and sat down and nibbled on her apple slices. "Thought we'd make a light lunch and maybe just have special finger foods for dinner? What do you think?"

"Sure, that sounds nice. Want to eat before the movie or during?" she asked, helping Brooklyn with her plate before nibbling on her sandwich.

"Maybe have a special dinner during the movie? During Frosty then cuddles during Rudolph?"

"I like the sound of that. What do you think, Brooklyn?" Rachel asked, picking up a napkin and wiping a bit of cheese off the girl's face absentmindedly.

"Sounds good!" She smiled happily as she munched. She finished up her lunch quietly and rubbed at her eyes. "Can I go lay in my bed?"

"Sure, babe, but go to the bathroom first," Santana said before kissing her daughter. "I'll wake you up in a while okay?"

"Okay," she yawned. "Can Rachie sing to me and nap with me?"

Rachel looked to Santana with a soft smile. "I don't mind if you can spare me for a little bit."

"Sure," Santana smiled, "I'll pick up."

Finishing the last bite of her sandwich, Rachel stood and reached a hand out for Brooklyn. "Come on, sweetie. Let's get you cleaned up and go lie down for a bit."

Brooklyn took her hand and followed her down the hall.

* * *

Santana laid on the floor near the tree. She had finished putting up the decorations and was laying down for a rest while Rachel napped with Brooklyn. Rachel came out a few minutes later running her fingers through her hair. When she spotted Santana, she smiled and walked over to stretch out on the floor beside her, curling into her side.

"Hi," she whispered. "I missed you."

"Hey, she sleeping?" Santana mumbled, as she rolled onto her side and rested her head on Rachel's stomach.

"She is," Rachel murmured, stroking fingers through Santana's hair. "How are you? Feels like it's been forever since we've been alone like this."

"I'm... better now that I'm here with you," she said softly. "It's been a long few months."

"It has," she nodded, enjoying being close. "Not to seem overly needy or dependent, but I've really missed being able to curl up with you after a long day - even if we didn't do that every day before I came out here."

"I am needy too so it's fine to admit it," Santana joked. "I just really needed to be with you like this sometimes."

"Mmm," she murmured with a gentle smile, enjoying the feeling of her fingers running through Santana's hair. "What if I told you that we could be like this a lot more often after the holidays?"

"How?" Santana mumbled unhappily. "And don't say skype because it's not the same."

"How about a ticket for the same plane you and Brooklyn will be on?" Rachel asked softly, catching her lip between her teeth with a shy smile.

Santana looked up and gaped at Rachel. "You have time off to visit home?"

Rachel laughed softly. "Not for a visit, Santana."

"Your movie isn't finished yet..." she said softly, her shoulders slumping.

She shook her head gently. "We wrapped the night before you landed. I'm done, Santana. I can come home."

"Really?" Santana whispered in disbelief. "Don't fuck with me," she warned as she looked at her girlfriend.

"I'm not and I wouldn't." She smiled at Santana. "I'm coming home. You'll... you'll be there, right? You'll stay?" She looked scared and uncertain but hopeful. "You and Brooklyn? You'll... stay with me? In the apartment?"

"That's... that's okay with you?" Santana asked. "You want us to stay around?"

"Of course, I do!" Rachel stared at Santana almost in shock. "Why wouldn't I? Haven't you figured out that you and Brooklyn are what make it home for me these days yet?"

"I... You want to live with us?" she asked confused about how this was all happening. "I'm so confused... You finished filming?"

"I finished filming," she nodded, "and I want to come home to the two of you. I want to sleep with you at night and help tuck Brooklyn in... If," she licked her lips, uncertain, "if you don't want that, that's okay... I can... I can find some place. I won't make you move again..."

"No. It's... It's just," Santana shook her head, "I'm so happy you're done and coming home."

"You don't want to live with me though?" she whispered, sighing softly. "I'm sorry. I should have realized it'd be too soon for that sort of thing. I'm sorry, Santana. We can just pretend that I never mentioned it."

"No!" Santana exclaimed. "You caught me off guard! I want to live with you!"

"Do you?" Rachel asked softly, letting herself be open and vulnerable. "Please don't say it just because you know I want to, Santana..."

"You told me on the phone like a week ago that you still had a few weeks of shooting," Santana said. "You caught me off guard. I'm not good with surprises," she whispered. "I want to live with you."

I thought I still had a few more weeks of shooting, but the directors decided we had it all in the can the other night," she shrugged. "I want... I want a chance at a life with you, Santana. I don't know what else to do, what else I can offer to make you believe it."

"You're coming home with us." She smiled, leaning up and kissing Rachel softly. "For good?"

"Until the next job at least," Rachel chuckled ruefully, "and I may have to fly out for interviews to promote the movie, but maybe you and Brooklyn could come..." She trailed off, shaking her head to force herself to refocus on the question at hand. "Yes. Yes, Santana. I'm coming home with you. For good. If that's what you want."

"I want that," she whispered. "I want that."

"Then that's what will happen." Rachel smiled at her. "When you and Brooklyn get on the plane to fly back to New York... I'll be beside you. Coming home."

Santana beamed and kissed her deeply.

Rachel smiled against her lips, holding her tight as she kissed her back. "Santana," she breathed, "can we... can we tell Brooklyn on her birthday? It's the night before we leave... don't you think it'd be the perfect present?"

"I'm pretty sure we can send all of her presents from _Santa_ back... all she wanted was for you to come back to New York."

"That's all I've wanted since I watched your plane fly away last time," Rachel admitted with a shy smile. "But there's no need to send her presents back. Christmas and birthday are two different things after all."

"Yeah, It's unfortunate for her birthday to be around Christmas." She shrugged. "She wants a kitten for her birthday. Thoughts?"

"Mmm, maybe next year?" Rachel shrugged with a helpless smile. "I'll need to make sure my lease allows for it after all. Maybe it would be better to not associate a pet with a birthday gift though. It's a big responsibility after all. Maybe have her research cats and how to care for them first? It'd give us time to ensure that we won't have any problems having a pet in the apartment."

"Perfect," Santana smiled. "I didn't want to get her one anyway. Maybe a fish first..." She shrugged. "I'm so happy you're coming home."

"You have no idea how happy _I_ am to be getting to go home," she grinned, hugging Santana. "Now do you see why it wouldn't have been a problem for me to fly back to New York for the holidays?" she teased. "Though I am looking forward to being home for New Year's."

"Can we see the fireworks from your apartment?" she asked excitedly.

"I don't know," Rachel looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm usually not home for the event. But I'm reasonably sure we could see them from the roof."

"Think we should keep Brooke up? Or should I put her to bed so you can kiss me at midnight?" she asked with a glimmer in her eye.

"Maybe she can watch the festivities occurring before they hit New York on TV so we can have this first New Year's to ourselves," Rachel suggested with a shy smirk.

"Perfect," Santana said as she moved to rest her head in the crook of Rachel's neck.

"I thought you might approve," she teased, wrapping her arms around her to hold her close.

"Brooklyn loves you so much, Rachel," Santana murmured.

"I know," she whispered, rubbing Santana's back gently. "I love her too. I promise, Santana, I'll do everything I can to never abandon or hurt her. She... I," she paused, at a momentary loss for words. "She's... sometimes I wonder if how I feel, how strongly... if it's anything like a mother would for their child. I don't know if I'll ever know."

"She... she could be that for you," Santana whispered back. "She wants you as a parent... If that's something you want."

Rachel licked her lips, looking at Santana uncertainly. "Is... that what you want? I don't want to take anything from you, Santana. She's your daughter. Your little girl. You... you have such an incredible bond with her. I don't know if I could ever come close to that..."

"She's my baby..." Santana sighed. "But she deserves more than me. She deserves to have someone else to love her. She's never had anyone else..."

"She does now," she whispered, hugging Santana. "The title doesn't matter. I'll love her no matter what."

"She calls you mom then feels guilty... I never want her to feel guilty," Santana whispered and watched her.

"If," Rachel took a breath, willing her heart to slow down it's excited beat, "if you're okay with it, then I have no problem with her calling me that," she finally whispered. "But _only_ if you're okay with it."

"I'd give her anything," Santana said. "She's not going to be able to hold herself back when we live together and I rather her not get confused and overwhelmed. She's just a little girl."

"As long as you're okay." She reached up to cup Santana's cheek, smiling at her. "I love her and I love you. Knowing you want me as part of this admittedly odd little family makes me incredibly happy, Santana. But... I just want to make this very clear that I'm not just here for her. I'm here for _both_ of you and frankly, right now, I think I'd be devastated if anything happened to either of you."

"If something were to happen to me," she swallowed, "you'd take care of her, right? She can't go back to Lima..."

"I promise. I'd do everything in my power to keep her with me, Santana," Rachel reassured her. "I'd... I'd give up acting to take care of her. I'd work for Quinn's firm or something else that would keep me home more often. But nothing's going to happen to you... right?" Her smile grew frightened at the idea. "I mean... you're okay, right?"

"As far as I know, yes." She chuckled. "My worst nightmare is that something happens to me and she gets sent to my parents or God forbid has to show up at Mike's place with her little backpack and teddy bear."

"Santana, stop." Rachel had to blink against the sting in her eyes. "Stop, please. Don't talk like that. I'll take care of her. I promise. But nothing's going to happen to you, so don't talk like that, please."

"Sorry..." She sighed. "Haven't been getting a lot of sleep and the sleep I get has some harsh dreams."

"Hopefully it'll be better now," Rachel whispered, kissing her forehead. "I'll do my best to chase all the bad dreams away."

"Thank you," she said as she closed her eyes and breathed softly. "We are lucky to have you."

"I'm lucky to have the two of you, you mean," she teased gently, holding her close. "You... having the two of you in my life has made things seem like more than just a race for a trophy that meant less and less as the years went by. Thank you."

Santana snuggled in and listened to her heart beat as she drifted off into a much needed sleep.

"Only you would find a way to make us sleep on the floor," Rachel whispered, pulling her phone out of her pocket to set an alarm before wrapping her arms back around Santana and letting herself drift off.


	31. Chapter 31

December twenty-fifth - Christmas Day - dawned bright and clear that year. Rachel woke up with the tiny idea of taking her girls to a park or a beach later - to hell with what the studios might say - but at the moment she was content to just snuggle into the warm, vanilla and spice scented pile of blankets and little girl and mom that she'd found herself surrounded in. Tomorrow Quinn and Jay would be arriving - and staying past Rachel, Santana and Brooklyn's exodus on the twenty-ninth - but today was all theirs and theirs alone.

Brooklyn yawned as she cuddled her Bumble against her chest. She was facing Rachel with her body against her mom's. She reached out and pressed her hand to Rachel's arm as she tried to wake up.

Rachel smiled, wiggling an arm between Santana and Brooklyn to hug the little girl. "Hi," she whispered, moving to kiss her messy black hair. "Merry Christmas, sweetie."

"Merry," she got out before yawning, "Christmas," she mumbled trying to blink her eyes open.

"If you're still sleepy, you can stay in bed with your mom while I make breakfast," Rachel whispered. "I think breakfast in bed would be a nice Christmas present for her, don't you?"

Brooklyn nodded. "Wanna help," she said as she slipped out of her mom's grasp. She reached out for Rachel after tucking the Bumble into her mom's arms.

She smiled, scooping the little girl up after slipping out of bed. "Be very quiet now," she whispered. "We don't want to wake your mom up." Padding out into the hall, she made her way down to the bathroom to help Brooklyn get cleaned up, washing her own face while she was at it. "So... what kind of breakfast does your mom like best?" she asked, smiling at Brooklyn as she patted her face dry.

"Eggies or waffles," she exclaimed happily, "with strawberries!"

"Mmm, I think we can do waffles and strawberries. How's that sound?" she asked, holding out a hand when Brooklyn finished. "With coffee for your mom and me and extra strawberries for my special little helper, right?"

"Yummy!" She wiggled happily as they got into the kitchen. "Can we make with mangos too?"

"Maybe. Are there any left in the fruit bowl?" Rachel asked, helping Brooklyn up into one of the high backed chairs by the island as she moved to start getting ingredients out.

"Yes," Brooklyn said as she held up the fruit. "We has mangos."

"We _have_ mango," Rachel corrected with a smile, "and good! We can make a little fruit salad with mango and strawberries. How's that?" She started putting the ingredients into the bowl for her vegan-friendly waffles that hadn't gotten a complaint from Santana or Brooklyn yet.

"Sounds good, Momma," Brooklyn said with a smile as she held the fruit in her hands.

"Good," Rachel smiled at her, reaching over to ruffle her hair gently. "Now, how about you stir this carefully to mix it all up while I cut the fruit up with the sharp knife, okay? Try to keep it in the bowl as much as possible so we can make enough waffles for all of us. If you do, I'll show you a trick to make waffles even tastier."

Brooklyn nodded and carefully and slowly stirred the contents of the bowl. "Like this?" she asked, her tongue sticking out as she moved the spoon.

"Just like that," she said with a smile, getting out a cutting board to chop the fruit up into chunks, cutting a potion into smaller bits and putting that into a bowl. "You ready to see how to make them extra special?" she asked when she finished and saw that Brooklyn was pretty much done stirring.

"Yes please!" She smiled, and looked up at her.

"Then here we go!" Rachel handed her the bowl of more finely chopped mango and strawberries. "Just shake these into the batter while I stir it up, okay?" She gently took the spoon and started mixing.

Brooklyn slid them into the bowl then popped a few pieces into her mouth that stuck to the board. "Yummy! Mommy will like these!"

"Awesome," Rachel grinned, finishing folding the fruit into the batter. "Now, if you promise not to touch the waffle iron when I say not to, you can help cook them too. We're going to make an extra special Christmas breakfast for Mommy, right?"

She nodded. "I won't touch it's hot!" she said worriedly. "Don't wanna get burnded." She moved to sit on the counter with her hands under her butt. "Do you think Santa came while we slept?"

"I'm sure he did. We left him cookies and milk, remember?" Rachel smiled at her, pulling a chair over to the counter and scooting the waffle iron a little closer to the sink while she waited for the green light to come on and indicate it was hot. Pouring the batter into her pancake dispenser - only half the amount she would put in to handle on her own - she handed it to Brooklyn once the little girl got up into the chair. "When I say, hold this over the waffle iron where I point and squeeze the handle, okay?"

She looked at it nervously. "Not hot right?" she said, "It won't burn me?"

"The dispenser?" Rachel looked at it, uncertainly. "No, it's not hot, sweetie. Just the iron is and you won't touch that. Here, I'll show you for the first one, okay?" She opened the iron and carefully squeezed batter into the middle of the iron, stopping before it was too full, then closing it with a hiss as batter bubbled slightly out the sides. "See? Easy, right?"

"Yeah, but can you do it?" she asked softly as she looked at Rachel. "I just wanna watch."

"Sure. You want to be in charge of decorating the plate for your mom and making it pretty with fruit and maybe whipped topping?" Rachel asked with a smile as she started the coffee brewing while the first waffle cooked.

"Yes, please," she said as she hopped down and headed to the fridge and grabbed the vegan whipped cream and chocolate syrup. "Can I have hot cocoa?"

"Think it's cold enough for hot cocoa?" she asked curiously as she flipped the first waffle out onto a plate and poured in more batter. "Sure you don't want chocolate milk instead?"

"It's Christmas..." she pouted. "I... I have hot cocoa at Christmas."

Rachel laughed. "You can have hot cocoa, Brooklyn, don't worry. I just thought it might be a little warm and you'd want something different, that's all. Like when Mommy has iced coffee instead of hot coffee in the summer time."

"Still want hot cocoa," she said as she climbed back up onto the chair. "Don't like cold things in morning times."

"Alright, sweetie," she smiled, leaning over to kiss her head, "hot cocoa it is then. Do you want little marshmallows and whipped topping as well? Since it's Christmas."

"Marshmallows," she said as she arranged the fruit on the plate.

"Do you want to try my marshmallows or the one from the bag for you and your mom?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Baggie," she chirped. "Is breakfast ready now? I'm hungries and I wanna wake mommy up."

Rachel laughed. "Not just yet. I still need to heat up the milk for your hot cocoa, remember?" She flipped out another waffle, adding the last of the batter to the iron. Moving to the fridge she got out the half-gallon of cow milk she always made sure to have on hand for the little girl. "Should we make it with syrup or with candy bar chocolate?" she asked, holding up a Hershey bar that had been stashed in the fridge.

"Syrup," she said as she handed the bottle to Rachel. "Makes it faster so we can wake Mommy."

"Alright," Rachel smiled, heating the milk in a sauce pan. "Want to put syrup on you and Mommy's waffles?" she asked curiously as she worked. "I have maple, strawberry or blueberry syrup if you want."

"I want chocolate, Mommy wants strawberry."

"Alright, but don't add too much chocolate to yours, okay?" Rachel reminded her, getting the strawberry syrup out before pouring the hot milk into a mug and adding chocolate syrup and mini marshmallows. "It's Christmas, so we don't want you getting an upset tummy from too many sweets already."

"I know," she said as she put a few drops on her food. "Ready?"

Rachel surveyed the tray they'd put together, pouring coffee into the tall mug on the corner and fixing it the way Santana liked it before nodding. "I think so," she smiled, picking it up. "Let's go wake Mommy, okay, sweetie? Be quiet now though. It's a surprise."

Brooklyn nodded and scampered off to the bedroom. She hoisted herself up on the slightly too tall bed and slid into Santana's body. She kissed her nose, then her eyelids. "Mommy," Brooklyn whispered.

Rachel walked into the room behind her accompanied by the smell of fresh brewed coffee and waffles. She smiled to see the little girl trying to kiss her mom awake. "Merry Christmas, Santana," she called gently, coming in to sit beside her on the bed. "We made you breakfast."

Santana mumbled incoherently, her black hair messed over her pillow. "Sleeping," she complained as she tried to shield her face.

Rachel laughed softly, setting the bedtray aside to lean over and kiss her gently. "It's Christmas, Santana. Don't you think you should wake up and have breakfast with your family so we can see what Santa brought?"

Brooklyn rested her head on Santana's stomach. "Mommy, wake up," she said as she nuzzled the woman. Santana rubbed her face and eyes trying to wake up.

"I'm up," she mumbled unconvincingly. "I'm up."

"I have coffee and we made you waffles," Rachel teased, moving the tray to rest over Santana's lap as the woman tried sitting up. "Fresh mango and strawberries too..."

"It's early," she said, her voice gravely with sleep. "Why are you two up so early?"

"It's nearly nine, love." She laughed. "The sun's been up for _hours_. And it _is_ Christmas. Don't you remember how early you used to wake up when you were little?"

She scowled but there was a hint of a smile in it. "I thought I trained her better," she teased as she watched her daughter wiggle up so she was in between Rachel and Santana. "Merry Christmas, _Mariposa,_ " Santana said as she kissed her daughter's head. "And to you," she said to Rachel.

"You're lucky my dad's Christian and I was raised with this stuff," Rachel teased, leaning over to kiss Santana. "Brooklyn was a big help this morning. I couldn't have made such a nice breakfast without her."

Santana just smiled and picked up the coffee. "Thank you, I should be making breakfast for you, little one," she said looking at her daughter.

Brooklyn shook her head. "Nuh-uh. It's Christmas so Momma and me made you breakfast, Mommy. Special present!"

Rachel smiled at her, leaning down to kiss her head. "That's right, sweetie. It's our special present for Mommy."

A blush crossed Santana's face. "It looks beautiful, but I need help eating it," she said as she picked up a piece of mango.

"Don't worry," she smiled. "I doubt we'll have any problems there. It's vegan _and_ tree nut free so we can all share. Brooklyn has Christmas morning hot cocoa and a chocolate syrup drizzled waffle, you have coffee with strawberry syrup on your waffles and I have coffee and can share them if you want."

"It's good," Brooklyn said, nodding happily as she munched on a bite of waffle.

Santana smiled. "I'm glad you like it baby," she said as she wiped chocolate off her daughters face. She took a bite of her waffle and smiled. "So tasty. Thank you, Rachel."

"You're welcome." Rachel smiled, nibbling on a piece of waffle. "So are you ready to see what Santa brought after breakfast, Brooklyn?"

"Santa brought me you," she said softly, leaning against her in a no-armed attempt at a hug. "That's all I want."

"He brought me you too," Rachel reminded her. "And I love you and your mom so much. But he might still have brought little presents, don't you think? And don't forget," she smiled at the little girl, "there's still your presents from your mom and me."

Brooklyn nodded and nibbled at her food before getting full and leaving half on the plate. She snuggled into her mom and hugged her. Santana just smiled down at her before reaching over and cupping Rachel's cheek with a soft smile.

She cupped a hand over Santana's where it rested on her cheek and smiled at her. "I hope you don't mind that I got you something too," she murmured with a shy smile, leaning into the hand.

"I got you something too," her smile growing slightly, "but it's nothing big..."

"You didn't have to." Rachel blushed, shaking her head. "Just having the two of you here is enough for me. But... thank you."

Santana nodded and finished her coffee. "How about I get dressed while you two finish eating then we can go see the tree?"

"You and getting dressed," Rachel teased. "If you insist, you can, but I think we're pretty much done eating. Do you want more, Brooklyn?"

"Uh-uh," she shook her head rubbing her stomach, "tummy full. Can we go see the tree now, Mommy?"

"Wait on the bed and let Rachel go out and make sure everything is ready first," Santana said as she got up and grabbed a pair of lounge pants and a white t-shirt and bra. "I'm gonna change," she added as she slipped into the adjoining bathroom.

"Mommy's fussy," Rachel teased, getting up. "Wait for her while I clean up, okay?"

"Okay," Brooklyn nodded with a smile, snuggling into the pillows. "I'll wait for Mommy."

Rachel headed out with the tray to clean up the kitchen before slipping into the living room and making sure the stockings were hung up and filled and the presents were neatly arranged under the tree. Nervously she straightened the box with her gift for Santana and hoped it wouldn't be taken as too much. Taking a breath, she looked around and nodded, finally satisfied with how everything was.

Santana pulled on clean clothing and tied her hair back into a braid that hung over her shoulder before coming back out and picking up her daughter off the bed. "Hi, you," she said as she kissed her cheek. "I love you so much, do you know that?"

"Uh-huh," Brooklyn giggled, hugging her little arms around Santana's neck, "I love you too, Mommy. Love you and Momma better than _anyone._ " She smiled, then sobered and looked nervous. "Is okay to call Rachie Momma...?"

"If you feel like you want to call her that, you may," she said, sitting down on the bed and looking at her. "If you want her to be your mom too, that's okay."

Brooklyn's eyes widened and she looked hesitantly happy. "Rachie can be my mom too? I can be Rachie's little girl too? She'll take care of me like you, Mommy?"

Santana pushed her daughters messy hair back and nodded. "If you love her and want her to be your mom we can make sure that she can take care of you like I do."

"I loves her, Mommy," Brooklyn nodded, "but you're my Mommy." She hugged her tight. "I wants Rachie to loves you too and be with us always. Can she?"

"Rachel does love me and she loves you," Santana assured her. "You're our most special thing, okay?" She kissed the girl's head. "She can be your mom too. Most little ones have two parents and you only have one... but Rachel can your other parent."

"That means she stays with us right?" she asked softly. "She stays and never leaves and loves us always?"

"I hope so," Santana whispered, "but she loves us and will always love you, baby. Okay?"

"Yay!" Brooklyn threw her arms around Santana's neck and hugged her tight. When she pulled away, her eyes twinkled with a mischievousness that could only come from Santana Lopez's daughter. "Now you get married and make babies, right?"

Santana laughed. "Calm yourself, child," she said as she got up with her. "Mommy is still very young and has lots of time to make little babies okay?"

"What about Rachie?" she looked up at Santana with bright eyed innocence. "Will Rachie make a baby? I'd like a little Rachie brother or sister to play with."

"Maybe someday. Remember how I told you I was young when I had you? Rachel is the same age as mommy so we have lots of time," she said as she kissed her daughter cheek.

"I like that Rachie will be with us for a long time," Brooklyn murmured, snuggling into her mom's arms. "Can we go be with Rachie now?"

"Yes, my little troublemaker," Santana said as she cuddled her close and walked out into the room shining with Christmas lights. "Look, baby, Santa came."

"Jewish Santa?" Brooklyn asked, remembering last year.

Rachel laughed. "Of course Jewish Santa!" she teased, escorting the two to the sofa. "Now sit while I distribute gifts."

Santana laughed at Rachel and sat down, plopping Brooklyn down on the floor when she started to make excited squeaks. "Be patient, baby."

"Stockings first!" Rachel laughed, bringing over the elongated socks to Santana and Brooklyn.

Brooklyn clapped and wiggled, reaching for her stocking. "Yay!"

Brooklyn tore into her stocking, pulling out a small stuffed animal and cuddling it before finding little treats and crayons. "New crayons!" she squealed delightedly. "Look, momma!" She showed them to Rachel.

"Wow!" Rachel clapped. "Santa must really know you and how much you like to color, Brooklyn. What about you, Santana?" She smiled warmly at the woman. "What did Santa bring you?"

Santana looked at the sharpies and the tablet pens. "Markers and..." she looked confused at the pens and scrunched her face up. "Tablet pens?"

Rachel just smiled. "Santa is very knowledgeable," she nodded. "He anticipates things you'll need."

A perfectly groomed eyebrow raised over suspiciously narrowed eyes. "Rachel, what did you get?"

"I can't tell you that, Santana! It would spoil the surprise!" she laughed.

"No, I mean in your stocking!" she said as she grabbed the pink stocking and handed it to Rachel.

"In my," Rachel trailed off blinking in surprise. She hadn't had a stocking on Christmas since her _bat mitzvah_ when she'd decided to take the Jewish faith as her own. "Santana... I... I don't know what to say," she whispered, looking at it.

"I know you're Jewish... but it's a tradition and everyone gets presents," Santana said softly as she sat back down.

Rachel laughed softly in stunned disbelief. "I... haven't had a stocking of my own since I was twelve and celebrated my _bat mitzvah_." She looked up at Santana with a suspiciously bright eyed smile. "Thank you so much, Santana."

Santana leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You're welcome," she whispered before pulling away and seeing Brooklyn watching in awe.

"What's up?" Rachel murmured, wiping at her eyes and smiling at Brooklyn. "You look surprised, sweetie."

"Mommy giving kisses," she said with a smile.

"Of course she gives kisses." Rachel smiled at Santana teasingly. "Your mommy gives the _best_ kisses. Makes me feel all warm and tingly and loved. Think I should see what's in here?" she asked, holding up the stocking.

Brooklyn nodded and rested her head - and her new teddy - on Santana's leg and watched Rachel open her stocking.

Rachel took her time, taking things out one by one and laying them down around her in a neat circle, her smile growing with each small item. "Tea," she sounded delighted, sorting through the samplers, "and I've never even heard of some of these! Thank you! And... Santana Lopez, how did you know I love core yoga?" she asked holding up the gift certificate with a happy smile.

She shrugged bashfully. "I've seen your stomach?" She smirked and licked her lips. "I just assumed."

"I love it," she grinned up at her from her place on the floor. "And _this_ ," she held up a certificate for a free massage with a smirk. "Do you think I could request this from a specific person or do I _have_ to go somewhere?"

"You can have a specific person if that is your choice." She smiled as she fiddled with her markers.

"Awesome," she smiled up at her, before shuffling things back into her stockings, "but I _think_ it might be time for _our_ gifts to each other now, what do you think? Brooklyn, who should get a present first?"

"Me?" She smiled cutely as she looked up pleadingly at her mom and Rachel.

Rachel laughed. "Alright, trouble." Picking three packages out of the fairly limited pile, she set them in front of Brooklyn. "One from me," she held up the box wrapped in pink paper with gold stars on it, "one from your mom," this box was blue with snowmen on it, "and... one from Aunt Quinn." The last one was red with white snowflakes. "She'll be coming tomorrow with Uncle Jay, okay?"

"Aunt Quinn present." She pointed and smiled at the box. "Present," she said, wiggling delightedly as she took the box and ripped into the paper covering it.

Rachel grinned, dropping down onto the couch beside Santana to watch Brooklyn open her gifts after making sure they were close enough to her that she could reach after opening Quinn's. Leaning into her girlfriend, she tilted her head up for a kiss. "Thank you for a wonderful Christmas, Santana," she whispered with a smile, resting her head on Santana's shoulder.

"My pleasure," Santana smiled, she watched Brooklyn pull out a black faux leather jacket. "Oh, Lord!"

"Mommy! Just like yours!" Brooklyn gasped as she held it up.

"Oh my gosh," Rachel laughed, covering her mouth to try and hide her grin, "that is adorable. You two are going to match!"

"Mini-me," Santana said as she helped the girl into the jacket. "Do you like it?"

"I _loves_ it!" Brooklyn cried, snuggling into the warm wool lining. "It's so warm, Mommy!"

"You look great, babe," she said as she fixed her hood. "Do you wanna open another present?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "Rachie's present!" She flopped back down beside the box and started tearing the paper off, sending it flying. "Color books!" She pulled out the top of the decent sized stack and showed it to her mom, "Look, Mommy! Princesses!"

"I wasn't sure what'd you'd like the most, so I got you an assortment. I hope that's okay," Rachel said, smiling at her.

"I got princesses! Spider-Mans! Trucks! Flowers!" She smiled and launched herself at Rachel. "Thank you!"

Rachel hugged her tight, rubbing her back. "I'm glad you like them, sweetie. Maybe next time we can go together to find coloring books, okay?"

She nodded and hugged Rachel tightly. "At home? In New York?"

"Sure," Rachel agreed easily, knowing about the surprise Santana and her had in store for the girl's birthday. "We can definitely look for coloring books together after I come home."

"Yay!" she said as she got down and sorted her books and pulled her stuffed toy in her lap.

"Aren't you going to open the present from your mom?" Rachel asked curiously, pointing at the snowman covered box.

"Oh yeah, Santa has one too! Mommy so much presents this year!" Brooklyn looked astonished.

"You were extra good this year for me and Rachel." Santana smiled, as she watched her daughter open the box with several small boxes of Legos she had been wanting.

Brooklyn's eyes widened excitedly as she sorted through them. "Legos, Momma! Mommy got me _Legos_!"

"I see that, sweetheart," Rachel said, chuckling softly as she watched her. "Maybe we can go out tomorrow and find you a special box to keep them in while your mom tans?"

Santana smiled and rested back and watched Brooklyn admire her new toys.

"I think it's time for Mommy's presents," Rachel teased. "Brooklyn, will you get the box there under the tree in the pink paper? That's right. Be careful now. It's my present for Mommy." She smiled lopsidedly at Santana. "It's um... partially a Christmas present, partially a birthday present, and... well, partially an investment in your future I think. I hope you like it."

"Rach?" Santana asked as she carefully unwrapped the box. She saw the drawing tablet, which caused her head to snap up. "Rachel..."

"It's a computer. Kind of like an iPad, only more directed towards artists," she smiled shyly, "like you. It'll let you put your work directly into electronic format so you can... submit your illustrations to publishers. You're good enough, Santana. I know you can do this if you want to."

Santana felt tears coming to her eyes. "No.. no one ever thought I was good at anything," she said softly, running her fingers on the box. "You... you think I'm good?"

Rachel laughed, shaking her head. "I _know_ you're good. I _think_ you're amazing. I believe in you," she reached over and squeezed her arm, "and I know you can do this if you want to, Santana."

"Can I see?" Brooklyn asked curiously, clambering up onto the sofa beside Santana. "What's it do, Mommy?"

"I'm not sure. Rach? What's it do?" Santana asked not familiar with the technology.

"Well, you're familiar with how an iPad works, right?" Rachel asked, "I've seen you using one for Quinn, so I'm assuming you do. This is like a cross between that and a regular computer. It's one of the best ones I could find, so it should be able to handle anything you can throw at it. It's basically a Macbook tablet PC. I was told it's very good for artists."

"This... it's so much Rachel..." Santana choked out, overcome with emotion. "I... can't accept something so expensive."

"Nonsense," Rachel smiled lopsidedly, "I just won't get you anything else for a couple years. And this is an investment. I'm just giving you the tools you need to do what you're good at. And after this contract, I have the money..." She shrugged, trailing off. "I... if you don't like it, Santana, I'm sure we can find you something else."

"No, I love it!" she insisted quickly. "I love it!" She hugged the box. "Thank you."

"Are you sure?" she looked uncertain. "It's okay if you don't, Santana. I'm sure we can find something you like better..."

"Mine," she said. "You can't have it back."

Rachel smiled lopsidedly, leaning in to kiss her softly. "I'm glad you like it then. And I hope you get lots of use out of it."

"I will," she said softly, she hugged the box and nervously handed over the box wrapped in silver paper. "I hope... you like it."

"Santana," she breathed softly, fingers lightly running over the silver paper. "You didn't have to get me anything. You already made this day so wonderful with the stocking and being here..."

"It's not big..." Santana said as she bit her lip nervously. "It wasn't expensive... it's the best i could do."

"It doesn't have to be expensive for me to love it, Santana," Rachel chided gently with a soft smile. "It's from you. That's enough for me." She carefully eased the paper off, taking care not to damage it too much and opened the obviously repurposed department store gift box. Her eyes widened at the leather looking cover of the book and she picked it up gently.

"Faux leather, right?" she teased, knowing Santana wouldn't have given her real leather as a gift. She opened the book and her breath caught in her throat with a little gasp. "Oh... oh, _Santana_. This... this is _beautiful_ ," she breathed, fingers delicately tracing over a sketch of Brooklyn sleeping before turning the page and seeing the start of a story. When she looked up there were tears in her eyes but she was smiling brightly. "Thank you..."

She nodded. "There's photographs and drawings in there..." She swallowed, nervous to be sharing her work with anyone other than her daughter. "I... I started it when I couldn't sleep at nights and you would talk to me until you fell asleep."

"It's beautiful and I love it more than anything else I've ever been given." She leaned forward and hugged Santana tightly, burying her face in the crook of the other woman's neck for a moment as she tried to compose herself. "Thank you. Thank you so, so much."

Santana ran her hand up and down Rachel's back as she watched Brooklyn carefully inspect the present.

"This extra pretty, Mommy," Brooklyn smiled up at her. "And I'm in it!"

The woman looked over and smiled. "Thanks, beautiful," she said as she kissed Rachel's head.

Rachel leaned back and wiped her eyes, kissing Santana before sitting up all the way. "You two are the most wonderful things to ever happen to my life." She grinned, looking between them. "Do you think we should give her the present from both of us now?" she asked Santana curiously, pretending to think about it. "Or make her wait?"

"Santa," The little girl's mother whispered urgently. " _Santa's_ present." She widened her eyes and hoped that Brooklyn didn't hear.

"Oh right," Rachel blushed, "the one from both of us is for her birthday. Sorry, I got excited." She bit her lip with a sheepish grin. "Brooklyn," leaning down she pointed at a small box just peeking out behind the tree, "is that another present?"

Brooklyn scampered over and dove under the tree for the box. "Santa!"

Rachel laughed and snuggled into Santana's side, leaning up to kiss her cheek. "Sorry," she whispered. "I almost forgot. Thanks for the save."

"It's okay," she whispered. "I hope she likes it."

Brooklyn tore into the box and looked at it confused. "Mommy?" She said as she brought it over and plopped it down. "What's this?"

"It's a music player, sweetie," Rachel explained, helping her take it out of the box while Santana pulled out the AAA batteries they'd hidden in the end table. "Like your mom's and mine only made so it's friendlier for little hands like yours. And see? There's a speaker on the end so you can listen to your music and stories on it without needing headphones like we do."

"Wow!" she gasped as she looked at the box. "Really? How did Santa know I like musics?"

"How did he know that you needed new crayons?" Rachel asked, pulling the girl into her lap to show her how her new mp3 player worked. "I bet he heard us singing together when he was checking on you. So, what do you think, Brooklyn? Is this a good Christmas?"

"Amazing! So many gifts!" she exclaimed hugging the large stuffed elephant that she had found under the tree from Jay in her arms. "So many mommies!"

"Do you like that part?" Rachel asked softly. "Having more mommies?"

She nodded shyly. "More cuddles and hugs for me," she said as she played with the string on Rachel's hoodie.

"Definitely," Rachel nodded with a smile. "Would you be okay with me living with you and your mom always after I come home for good?" She glanced at Santana with a shy smile of her own. "With me being your other mom?"

Brooklyn nodded. "That can happen?" She smiled wide eyed up at Rachel. "You come stay with us and we can make breakfast always?"

She nodded. "If you want. I'd like to live with you and your mom." She glanced at Santana again. "For always." Kissing the top of Brooklyn's head, she added in a whisper, "I'd like to try and be your mom too if you'll let me."

"Okay," Brooklyn chirped, "I like this, two mommies!" She looked at Santana for reassurance before adding, "Mommy said it was okay since I don't has a daddy."

Rachel reached for Santana's hand, squeezing it. "But your mom's the most important, okay? What she says goes. Okay?"

Brooklyn nodded and flopped down and laid her head on Santana's lap so she could look up at both of them. "I know, silly!" she said. "She's my mommy!"

Rachel laughed. "Well, sometimes we need to remind her how important she is! Do you like this Christmas, Santana?" she asked, leaning over to rest her head on Santana's shoulder.

"Yes," she said softly and ran her fingers through Brooklyn's hair, "but next year we have Christmas in New York... It's weird not having snow."

She nodded. "Definitely. A white Christmas is an optimal one after all. So... did the two of you want to go to Christmas Mass?"

"Nah." Santana said, "Don't really want to go to an LA church... we can go when we get home." She smirked, knowing she'd be able to give Quinn a hard time about it when her and Jay arrived the next day. "We can make sure to say extra prayers tonight."

Rachel grinned, pleased to have them to herself for a little longer. "Do you want to go to a park or something then? Enjoy the sun? Or maybe," she grinned teasingly, "just lay out in the backyard to soak it up?"

Brooklyn nodded. "Can I play with my toys while you and mommy get ready?" she asked with a smiled as she slid to the floor with her elephant.

"Of course you can, sweetie," she smiled, handing her her new crayons. "Mommy and I just need to take a shower and get dressed and we can go out and play, okay?" She glanced at Santana with a teasing smirk. "And maybe I can give Mommy a special thank you for being so amazing," she whispered so Brooklyn wouldn't hear, her brows wiggling suggestively.

Santana blushed and bit her lip. "Babe, be careful okay?" she warned as she headed to the bathroom. "No getting into things you're not supposed to, right?"

Brooklyn nodded, sprawling out on the floor with her crayons and coloring books. "I just color, okay? Elle can help."

"That sounds great, sweetie," Rachel smiled down at her as she got up. "Color some pretty pictures so I can decorate with them, okay?"

"Okay!"

Rachel smiled as she headed into the bathroom after Santana, closing the door behind them and wrapping her arms around the taller woman's waist as she kissed her shoulder. "So," she murmured, "should I give you a _special_ Christmas treat while our daughter is occupied with her new coloring books?" She grinned teasingly, her lips curling against Santana's skin as she smiled.

"If you can be fast," Santana whispered as she turned on the water and started tugging off her clothing.

"You mean if you can be _quiet_ ," Rachel teased, helping her undress before undressing herself and getting into the shower with her.


	32. Chapter 32

Santana came over to her daughter who was lying petulantly on the middle of the king sized bed in the rental house that Rachel had been residing was nearly one in the afternoon and they had a nine o'clock flight, meaning they had to get to the airport by six thirty at the latest. Brooklyn had just taken a bath and was protesting the very idea of leaving Los Angeles. The following day was her birthday and she wanted to spend it with Rachel and Santana. She was upset at the notion of going home without half of her family and was protesting every second of Santana's packing through the day.

"Brooklyn," Santana sighed, her patience being tested with every passing minute, "come on. Dry off so we can get your pajamas on."

"No," she pouted, pulling the towel tighter around her so it couldn't be used to dry her hair. "I don't wanna leave."

"Brooke, we need to go home. I told you we'd be leaving on the twenty-seventh and it's the twenty-seventh." Santana sighed, "Remember you have to go to Lily's for a sleepover on the twenty-ninth and tomorrow is your birthday."

"I want to stay with Momma!" she cried, rolling over away from Santana. "I wanna be with Momma on my birthday! I don't wanna go to stupid Lily's! I don't like her!"

"Don't say that," Santana said as she went to the suitcases and pulled out a pair of flannel pajama pants, a sweatshirt and a t-shirt with Tinkerbell on it. "You do like her. Stop being cranky, please, and sit up."

"No! I want Momma!" She started crying, curling into a little ball on the bed. "I don't wanna leave Momma again, Mommy. I hate leaving Momma. She's gone and I miss her so much!"

"We need to head home, baby." Santana sighed and sat down rubbing her daughter's back. "We need to get up and get dressed. Please, Brooklyn."

"No, Mommy! I don't wanna go!" She sobbed into the blanket, clutching it. "No!"

Rachel poked her head into the room worriedly at the sounds of Brooklyn's screams echoing through the condo. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really." Santana sighed. "Brooklyn Rain," she exclaimed, "you need to take a deep breath and sit up right now. You are six years old and you need to act like a big girl okay?"

"No!" she sobbed, burying her face in the blanket. "You're a bad mommy! I don't want you to take me from Momma! I want _Momma_! I hate you!"

Rachel looked shocked at the outburst. "Brooklyn! That's a terrible thing to say to your mom! Why are you being like this?"

Brooklyn took in a shaky breath at the sound of Rachel's voice and turned a tear-streaked face to her. "I don't wanna go away and leave you alone again! Mommy's making me! She's _bad_!"

Santana looked down and stood up, having never been spoken to by her daughter like that before. She took a shaky breath before walking out of the room and into the bathroom.

"Santana," Rachel called weakly as she watched her walk off. "Brooklyn Rain Lopez, look what you did!" she scolded, going over to the bed. "You hurt your mom! How could you do that? She loves you so much and you're saying such awful, _hateful_ things to her." She shook her head, disappointed and saddened by the situation. "That's not the Brooklyn I know and love. Why are you being bad and so mean to your mom?"

Brooklyn broke out into harder sobs. "No, Rachie!" she cried, "Don't make me go!"

"Why shouldn't I when you're being hateful and mean to your mom who loves you more than anything?" Rachel asked with a frown. " _My_ Brooklyn would never behave like that. She would never say such awful things and make her mom upset like you just did. Maybe it was a bad idea wanting to try and be your mom too if you're going to be awful to your mom because of it."

"You can't!" She gasped, eyes wide with shock. "You can't stop being my mom! I just got you!" she screamed. "You said you'd never leave me!"

"I never said I was leaving you, Brooklyn, and I have no intention of doing so, but you are being entirely cruel to your mom and it is not at all warranted." Rachel frowned, unhappy with the entire situation. "And you _know_ that. You are being willful and mean and there is nothing that disappoints me more than to see you behave like this."

"I want you to spend my birthday with me!" She shivered, on the verge of crying. "It's not fair."

"Things aren't always fair, sweetie," Rachel pointed out. "And when you throw a fit like this and make your mom feel bad, then I can't try and do what I wanted to for your birthday because you're being bad and upsetting your mom and I simply cannot reward that behavior."

She pouted. "I don't want to go home without you."

"Well, perhaps if you'd behaved like the big girl you and I both know you are instead of throwing a tantrum like a baby and being cruel to your mom, that might not have been necessary. Now, well," Rachel shrugged, clearly unhappy with Brooklyn, "I just don't know if that's possible anymore."

"I'm sorry," the little girl whimpered, as she watched Santana come back in the room with red eyes. "Mommy..."

"Don't," Santana cut her off. "Dressed. _N_ _ow_ ," she said with with a stern tone. "Don't make me tell you again."

Her tiny face crumpled but she nodded and scooted off the bed to start wriggling into her clothes with her shoulders slumped.

"Santana," Rachel whispered, reaching a hand to her wrist, "I'm sorry about all this... I'll... I'll change my plans. I know we... you can't reward this behavior." Her shoulders slumped and she turned to walk out of the room quietly, feeling like the entire situation was her fault.

The young mother sighed. "Brooklyn, brush your hair and teeth then go back and sit on the bed," she instructed before following Rachel out into the hallway. "This is not your fault. She's being a brat."

"My fault or not, if I go home with you now, it'll look like we're rewarding her tantrum by giving her what she wants." Rachel sighed, rubbing her arms, "I was so looking forward to going home with you too..."

"You can still come home with us... don't let her behavior ruin your plans. She just loses her mp3 player and gets time out." Santana shrugged.

"But, Santana, my coming home with you is _why_ she was throwing the tantrum in the first place, not because she wanted the mp3 player and you wouldn't let her have it." Rachel frowned, frustrated. She rubbed at her face, "I hate that she said such a horrible thing to you because of me. I... Maybe we shouldn't have tried to do this co-parenting thing so soon? I mean, could her misbehavior be inspired by that?"

"I guess all parents get played against each other," Santana said softly. "I just never had to deal with it before..."

"I'm sorry I'm the cause of it." Rachel smiled sadly. "You know she didn't mean it, right? What she said?"

Santana looked up and tried to ignore the prickle of tears. "Doesn't matter."

"It _does_ matter," she insisted, wrapping her arms around Santana and hugging her tight. "It was cruel of her to say that and I hope she'll apologize when she calms down. We love you, Santana. More than anything. I promise we do."

"She's a little kid, she wasn't meaning to be cruel," Santana sighed, "and I know... "

"Being a little kid is no excuse," Rachel insisted. "She knows better. You raised her better. I felt _so_ incredibly disappointed in her when I heard those words leave her mouth."

"Me too." Santana hugged herself, rubbing her arms. "Are you coming home or not?"

"Of course I'm coming home," she reassured her. "I just... I want her to apologize to you for what she said and start acting like the big girl we all know she is. I want to fly out with you, but if I have to I'll take the next flight out instead."

"She'll be fine." Santana sighed, shaking her head. "Just... can you please make some snacks for the trip while I talk to my kid?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I can do that. Are," she hesitated, licking her lips and looking up at Santana uncertainly, "are we okay?"

"Yes," Santana assured her. "Right now I need to deal with my kid and what seems to be the first showing of my attitude in her." She pouted and rubbed her face.

Rachel laughed softly. "You're welcome to blame it on my influence if it'd make you feel better," she offered with a wry smile. "After all, I still have my diva moments on occasion and we _are_ trying to... co-parent I believe the word is."

"This is gonna take some getting used to," she said. "I'm gonna go talk to her..." Santana slipped back into the room to see Brooklyn sitting on the middle on the bed playing with the tips of her hair. She watched her for a moment before walking over as sliding onto the bed to sit cross legged across from her.

Brooklyn glanced up at her looking sad and scared for a moment before looking back down at her lap. "I'm sorry for saying bad things, Mommy," she whispered.

"Thank you," Santana said softly as she took her daughter's hands into her hands and played with her fingers. "You hurt my feelings, though."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, watching Santana's hands move across hers. "I was sad and mad. I don't wanna leave Rachie." She glanced up scared. "She's not gonna stop being my Momma cause I was bad, is she?"

"No, that's not how having parents works," Santana said. "Like how I'll never stop loving you even though you hurt my feelings and disappointed me a little bit."

"I didn't mean to," she sniffed. "I just don't want Rachie to be so far away no more. It's too sad and makes my chest hurt when we have to say bye and go away."

"I know, but you can't lash out okay?" she said as she squeezed her daughter's hand. "You have to learn to not get angry or cry whenever you are upset."

"But it's so sad, Mommy," she sniffed, her little face crumpling up. "It's like when Bambi's mommy dies. I don't like feeling like that."

"I know, but we have to _talk_ when you feel bad," Santana said cupping her daughter's cheek. "Tell me and we can talk, don't cry and scream."

Brooklyn nodded with a sad little sniff. "Rachie's mads at me," she whispered. "'Cause I was mean to you."

"She's disappointed," Santana corrected her. "She's sad because you're hurting and upset that you hurt me."

"I don't like that word," she pouted. "Disa... disa-pointy. I don't like it. It means I'm bad and mean."

"Means you misbehaved," she corrected gently wiping the tears away. "And didn't act like a good little girl we know you are."

"Don't like it," Brooklyn huffed. "Is Rachie never coming home now?"

"She's coming home with us, Brooklyn." Santana sighed. "We wanted to surprise you for a present but you freaked out. Rachel thinks she should wait now till you finish your punishment for your behavior."

Brooklyn's eyes widened and her lips trembled at the start of new tears. "She's gonna stay away cause I was bad?!"

"She thinks she should," Santana sighed. "But, honestly, it's not fair for Rachel _or_ Mommy... so she's coming with us."

"I almost made Rachie stay away?" Big tears dripped down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Mommy! I'm sorry!"

Santana pulled her into her lap. "You got emotional... it's okay to get upset. You just need to apologize and try to not do it again," she whispered and kissed her face. "I love you so much."

"I love you, Mommy," Brooklyn sobbed into her shoulder. "I don't hate you. I'm sorry."

"I know. I know, baby." Santana cooed, "Don't cry okay? Please don't."

"Don't make Rachie go cause of me," she hiccuped, taking a big breath to try and calm down.

"She won't, I promise. That's not what being a mom is. Rachel will learn that okay? We don't leave our baby no matter what." Santana kissed away her tears and hugged her close.

She rubbed at her eyes tiredly. "Is Rachie really coming home with us, Mommy? Really really? No more working far away?"

"No more working far away." She smiled and rubbed her back. "Do you want to go get your elephant and lay down while mommy finishes getting packed?"

She shook her head. "Hafta says sorry to Rachie. Made her disa-pointy by being bad so hafta says sorry."

"Yes, you do. Why don't you go do that and get yourself some water and come back and help me pack, okay?" Santana said as she pushed back the girl's hair.

"Okay." She nodded, scooting carefully down off the bed on her belly before toddling out to find Rachel. "Rachie?" she called, looking for her.

"In here, sweetie," Rachel called back from the kitchen, her hands too full making small bags of snacks to come out.

Brooklyn looked nervous and stood at the edge of the kitchen and watched her.

Rachel gave her a little smile and nodded towards the chair by the counter. "Come on in, Brooklyn. Did you need something?"

"Please come home," she whispered and climbed up on the chair. "Please."

Rachel stopped what she was doing and turned to face Brooklyn. "Can you give me a reason why I should go home with someone who was mean to her mom?"

"I said I was sorry... I got sad and it hurt too much." She sniffled. "Please don't be mad."

Rachel sighed. "I'm not mad, Brooklyn. I'm just very disappointed that you would tell your mom that you hate her just because you were upset. Don't you realize how important you are to her? Hate is such an ugly word and the sweet little girl I love would never use it against the people she loves."

"I know. I made a mistake... I'm sorry," she whimpered and looked down.

"Do you understand why it was wrong? I know that you know we're disappointed in you, but do you understand?" Rachel asked softly, wanting nothing more than to pull the sad little girl into her arms and reassure her that everything would be okay.

"Cause... I hurt mommy's feelings?" she asked hesitantly. "I was bad..."

Rachel shook her head. "No. Hurting your mom's feelings was bad, yes, but that's not why it was wrong. First, it was a lie because you don't hate your mom and you should never lie like that. Especially to people you love. But second, people like you and your mom and me, we're good with words. And we should never ever use them to hurt people." She crouched down beside the chair so she was eye to eye with the girl. "When your mom and I were younger, we used our words to hurt people and it just made us and everyone around us sad and angry at us. I said horrible things to your mom sometimes when I was angry and she said bad things to me too when we were younger and in school together. Because of that, we couldn't be friends for a long time and I didn't get to be there for her when you were born. Do you understand?"

"That I hurt you and mommy and lied... that's why I should never ever do it again?" she asked softly.

"That's part of it," Rachel nodded, "but don't not do it just because we tell you to. Don't hurt people with your words because not hurting people is the right thing to do." She smiled at her, reaching out to brush a finger over her cheek and smooth away a stray tear track. "You're a very smart and clever little girl, just like your mom was when she was little. I want to see you grow into a strong and brave woman who uses her words to help people and make them stronger instead of hurt them and make them feel little, okay?"

She nodded. "Do... you still love me?" she asked softly.

Rachel let out a startled laugh, reaching out to pull Brooklyn into a tight hug. "Of _course_ I still love you, Brooklyn! I'll _always_ love you. Even if I'm unhappy about something or we argue, I promise I will always love you. No matter what. Isn't that what moms are supposed to do?"

She nodded and hugged her. "You'll come home with us? On the plane?"

Rachel nodded slowly. "I'll come home with you. Not because of your tantrum though! That was very bad behavior and I'm sure you'll receive a punishment for it when we get home. But, yes, I'm coming home with you."

"Okay," she said softly and rubbed her eyes. "My head hurts," she exclaimed sadly.

"That happens when you cry a lot," she pointed out, standing and getting Brooklyn a glass of water. "Here you go, sweetie. Drink this so you're not all dried out and you can go take a nap while I help your mom finish packing okay?"

Brooklyn drank her water and put the cup down before picking up her elephant and running down the hall to climb back on the bed.

Rachel came in a little later and tucked her in before going over to kiss Santana softly. "Are you okay?" she murmured, smiling up at her.

"I'm fine," she shrugged as she finished packing Brooklyn's bag. "I don't love that she has my temper... too bad she couldn't get Chang's demeanor."

"Oh, I don't know. Mike could blow up pretty good when the mood hit as I heard it," Rachel shrugged, "and neither of us have the most even keel when it comes to moods. If," she licked her lips with a shy smile, "if we have another child some day, you know it doesn't matter who carries it, they'll have some diva in them."

"My hair is gonna be grey by twenty-five," Santana said with a pout as she pulled the suitcase out to the living room.

"Never," Rachel laughed, "you'd scare it black again. And I'm here to help now, right?"

"Totally," Santana said. "We can't let her sleep for too long, she needs to sleep on the flight."

"Oh, something tells me she'll sleep anyway. I think she's worn out from all that emotion earlier," Rachel sighed, wiping at her face. "She's not the only one either. And we'll be fighting jet lag once we get back home. I just want to fall in our bed and sleep for a week..."

Santana nodded. "Yeah... I just wanna sleep." She yawned. "At least we can sleep for a few hours on the plane."

"Mmm, I like the sound of that." Rachel smiled at her. "Mind if I borrow your shoulder as a pillow?"

"You may," she nodded with a smile, "then home and crawling in bed..."

"Sounds amazing... and to think that I won't have to leave again until we get a finalized promotion schedule and then only for maybe a day or two at a time." She sighed with a happy smile at the thought.

Santana smiled. "Sounds nice."

"Guess we get to find out how being a real family works, hmm?" she teased, wrapping her arms around Santana's neck and kissing her softly. "I think I kind of like the idea of waking up to you every morning."

"I like the idea of this as well," She said as she rested her head on Rachel's.

They stood there for a long moment, content to just be together. Finally Rachel pulled away to smile up at her. "Quinn and Jay are giving us a ride to the airport and they'll ship the rest of my things home before they leave and turn the key over to the management firm. Let's finish packing so we can go home."

"Mine and Brooklyn's stuff is all done, just get your bag together," she said as she followed Rachel into the bedroom. She scooted onto the bed with Brooklyn and held her sleeping daughter as Rachel finished packing.

* * *

It was nearly nine forty-five before the seat belt light flickered and died above them. Seeing it, Rachel smiled and nudged Brooklyn, point up at the light that was now off. The little girl had been pouting and unhappy because she didn't want to sleep in the seat by herself. When she saw the red light was out, she looked up at her mom pleadingly.

"Can I sit in Rachie's lap?" she asked softly, cranky from not getting enough sleep but still remembering how awful it had felt to have the women upset at her earlier.

"Yes, you may," Santana said as she picked up the airplane blanket off the girl and unbuckled her seat belt. Brooklyn rubbed at her eyes and crawled over into Rachel's lap. Santana slid into the middle seat and put on her seat belt as Brooklyn climbed up on Rachel's lap.

Rachel smiled as she cuddled the tired little girl against her chest, letting Santana tuck the airplane blanket it around them. She wrapped her arms securely around the tiny body and leaned over to rest her head on Santana's shoulder with a soft sigh. "This is how going home should be," she whispered.

"You're right," she smiled and pulled her daughter's hood up and over her hair. Santana yawned and curled her knees up to her chest and watched Rachel and Brooklyn for a moment. "I'm glad you're coming home."

"So am I," she whispered, rubbing Brooklyn's back as the little girl nestled her head against her chest and drifted off. "I've hated being away so long. Tell me about your new job?" she asked softly, still not happy with the fact they wouldn't be working together anymore.

Santana shrugged and hugged her legs. "It's boring..." She said, "I'm a secretary at Brooke's school... so you know. But it allows me to have the time I need off to be with her and no more daycare or babysitters."

Rachel nodded. "I can help with that now. It'll probably be at least a couple months before I can find another role, so you can get some alone time if you want." She rolled her head to smile up at Santana. "I don't mind spending time with our daughter and giving you a chance to go out and unwind after all."

"I like spending time with her... she's my best friend," Santana said softly, not really loving the idea of spending less time with her daughter.

"Santana," Rachel chided gently, "I never said you don't like spending time with her. I'm just offering to give you a chance to pamper yourself every now and then." She smiled up at her. "That can't be so bad, right? I think you'd enjoy the chance to go get a massage or take a yoga class or something once in a while."

"Maybe," Santana said softly. "She'll like having you around... I'll like having you around. I feel safer when you're here."

"Safer?" she asked gently. "I make you feel safer?"

Santana nodded. "Yes..." She closed her eyes. "I... I don't feel as nervous and anxious about things when you're around."

"Really?" Rachel bit her lip with a shy smile. " This may sound fairly foolish, but I think that's one of the nicest things anyone ever said to me."

"I can actually sleep when you're around," she said softly. "It's hard to focus and not be nervous about everything when I'm alone."

"Then I suppose I should endeavor to be home more often," she whispered, snuggling into Santana's side with a pleased smile. "It's easier to sleep beside you than anywhere else after all so I imagine it would be in my best interests to stay with you," she teased gently.

"I agree." She whispered, "I don't like being alone."

"You're not." Rachel smiled, letting her eyes close. "Not any more."

She nodded and pulled a blanket over herself. "I just... Just stay with us okay? No matter want, please don't leave me."

"Not if I have any possible say in the matter," she whispered, reaching over to lace their fingers together.

She nodded and held Rachel's hand as she watched her girls fall asleep next to her. Santana sighed and rubbed her eyes under her glasses before she slipped on her headphones and stared blankly at the movie playing on the headrest in front of her.

* * *

The next day - after a lot more sleep than either woman had been expecting - the tiny family got bundled up and headed out to Central Park to take Brooklyn ice skating for her birthday. Rachel had mixed feelings towards the sport, but she was fairly certain that if she expressed her doubts she'd be teased mercilessly for it. So it wasn't until they were sitting on the benches at the rink putting their skates on that Santana had any idea that Rachel had no experience ice skating.

She bit her lip as she awkwardly laced the skate up, trying to keep her fingers away from the sharp blade on the bottom. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Santana?" she murmured, her mind full of the images of horrible accidents involving skate blades, ice and severed flesh.

"Yeah, it's fun." Santana smiled as she carefully tied Brooklyn's skates on and slid on her elbow pads, knee guards and wrist guards. "Brooklyn's been skating since two years ago." She looked down at the little girl to check with her. "I mostly just carried her around at first, but she likes it."

"What if you fall?" she asked worriedly, tightening her laces too tight. "Can't you get severely hurt? I've heard of people getting killed while ice skating, Santana..."

Santana rolled her eyes and moved over to retie Rachel's skates. "Stop freaking out. A six year old can do it."

"Just because a six year old can do something does not mean I am possessed of the same skill set, Santana," Rachel huffed. "I simply cannot risk being severely injured at this juncture in my budding career," She insisted, not wanting to admit that she didn't want to look foolish in front of Brooklyn and Santana.

"I'll hold your hand." Santana said softly, "You'll be okay... if you don't wanna go you don't have to."

Rachel glanced at where Brooklyn was leaning on the railing watching everyone go bye with a big smile on her face. "I'm going to fall and look like a fool, Santana," she whispered, nervous. "I don't want to look bad in front of Brooklyn..."

"I fall on my ass all the time," Santana replied. "It's part of the fun. You'll be fine, okay?" Santana said softly and kissed her red cheeks. "You'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly, looking up at Santana through her lashes. "You'll hold my hand?"

"Yes," Santana rolled her eyes, "I'll hold your hand and make sure you don't fall and break your talent."

"I'm more concerned with embarrassing myself in front of Brooklyn at the moment," Rachel huffed, getting shakily to her feet with Santana's help. "But thank you for the vote of confidence. Maybe I'll just stay by the wall."

"Probably for the best." Santana smiled and brought Rachel over to the edge of the rink. "Brooklyn, remember hold onto the wall."

Rachel rolled her eyes and stepped shakily onto the ice. Even after all these years, she still didn't appreciate feeling like she was being made fun off, especially when she'd admitted being nervous about something. Her legs trembled as she fought to keep her balance - no matter what anyone said it was _nothing_ like skating with inlines in her opinion - as she inched along the wall, hands white knuckled on the rail.

Brooklyn was laughing happily as she skated near the wall, alternating between skating around her mom and going a little ahead. The very picture of a sweet and carefree little girl having a good time with her mom. It gave Rachel an unpleasant pang in her stomach to realize her inability to skate was probably impairing their fun.

Santana skated behind Rachel and slid her arms around the woman's waist. "I got you," Santana whispered as she held her tightly.

Rachel glanced over her shoulder at her and bit her lip, "Maybe I should have stayed off the ice. You and Brooklyn would probably have more fun not having to worry about me. I'm not any good at this after all..."

"Neither is she," Santana said. "It's something you've never done before though." She said with a smile. "You're doing fine."

"I can't believe you actually got me out here." She shook her head with a rueful smile, relaxing just slightly into Santana's arms as they skated slowly. "Quinn tried for _years_ and I never would."

"I didn't even have to promise you sex," Santana teased as she slowly moved with Rachel while keeping one eye on Brooklyn as she carefully moved around.

"Perhaps you're simply that good of a negotiator," Rachel joked. "Though I would think you wouldn't have to promise sex. I mean, wouldn't you call that a given by this stage in our relationship?"

"True and as you know Brooklyn is away tomorrow night at Lily's house," Santana teased before pulling away, remembering the possible photographers. She kept a protective hand on Rachel's back as she watched Brooklyn though.

Rachel sighed at the pulling away, knowing the likely reason. "I hate that we have to worry about people seeing us together," she murmured. "I can't wait until this silly movie is released and I can actually hold your hand or hug or kiss you in public like a normal couple if we want. It's insulting that we're being forced to hide like this..."

"Yeah... but it's okay." She smiled before helping Rachel back to the wall and skating over to Brooklyn. "Having fun, little one?"

"Uh-huh! I loves skating, Mommy!" she beamed up at Santana as the woman came over to take her hand. "Rachie doesn't skate so good though."

"She's never done it before! She's just nervous." Santana smiled down at her. "Where do you wanna have a special birthday dinner tonight?"

Brooklyn thought about it for a moment then brightened. "Can we have pizza? The place with special pizza for Momma?"

"I made you a special Brooklyn cake." She smiled and skated backwards to face the girl. "And I made Rachel cupcakes."

"A special cake just for me?" She wasn't sure her smile could get much brighter as she surged forward to tackle-hug her mom around the waist. "Special cake _and_ Rachie's home! Best birthday ever, Mommy!"

"I aim to please," she said, as she tried to regain her footing as they lapped around the rink. "Think I should tell Rachel about when I first met you at dinner?"

"The story about how I'm your special gift?" Brooklyn smiled up at her. "I'd like that! Then Rachie can know too!"

"Let's go see if she's okay." Santana smiled and moved towards her and caught her as she started to tip over. "I got you."

Rachel stiffened when she felt someone grab her around the waist only to relax as she realized it was Santana. "Oh, Santana, thank goodness!" She laughed in relief. "I'm afraid you don't want to know what I first thought when you grabbed me like that. Are you having a good time, Brooklyn?"

"Yes! Thank you for coming!" she chirped as she skated around them.

She laughed, leaning on Santana for support. "Where else would I go, silly? My family's here after all, right?"

"Can we go have hot cocoa and dinner now?" Brooklyn asked as she looked up at her mom. Santana nodded as she led the two off the ice and to the bench and got their bag with their shoes. She helped Brooklyn off with her skates and on with her boots before doing her own.

Rachel fumbled with her skates - nearly breaking the laces on one in frustration before she finally got the double knot Santana had put in it undone - but finally got them off and her boots back on. "Oh, sweet safety," she sighed happily, taking everyone's skates over to the rental place. "It's so nice to not have the _hiss hiss_ of razor sharp death over ice ringing in my ears anymore," she teased, coming back over.

"You are insane," Santana said with a laugh as she helped Brooklyn get her jacket and backpack out of the locker they'd rented.

"I may be insane, but I'm _safe_ ," Rachel smirked. "So, where are we taking our special girl for dinner?"

"Pizza!" Brooklyn cheered, scurrying over and jumping at Rachel - who just barely managed to catch her with a mildly panicked expression at the surprise tackle. "Then home for special cakes!" She wrapped her arms around Rachel's neck and kissed her cheek with a happy smile. "Momma's home so I already got the best present."

"You're sweet," Rachel smiled, reaching up to tap her nose.

Santana smiled and escorted the two smaller girls to the restaurant a few blocks away. They headed to the back and slid into a booth with Brooklyn as Santana ordered two hot chocolates and a hot apple cider for Rachel.

"I will never understand your fixation with hot chocolate beverages to accompany pizza, Santana," Rachel teased, pulling out a fresh box of crayons from her purse and a few sheets of paper to occupy Brooklyn as they waited for their food.

"Tradition?" Santana shrugged. "Brooklyn likes hot cocoa when it's cold out and it's tasty."

"And you just like drinking chocolate," she suggested, scribbling something on a piece of paper and passing it to Santana.

"This is true." She smiled and looked down at the paper, _I ❤ You_. Santana smiled and looked up shyly before drawing a flower on it for her and sliding it back.

Rachel grinned at her. "You're adorable. What are you drawing, Brooklyn?" she asked, looking over at the picture Brooklyn was working on industriously, "Is that a kitty?"

"Yes," she smiled happily, kicking her feet against the bottom of her seat, "it's a kitty! I'm excited I get to play with Lily and her sister's kitty tomorrow!"

"You like kitties, huh?"

"They're soft and fluffy," she wiggled in her seat as she colored happily, "like Mommy!" She giggled as Santana scowled.

"Not a cat," Santana said with a grumble.

"You sleep a lot and like to curl up in a ball. You're like a kitty, Mommy!"

"You'd be adorable as a kitty," Rachel teased, squeezing her knee under the table. "And sometimes it seems like you can sleep anywhere like one. You also adore attention."

"Don't like you two right now." She pouted as she crossed her arms.

"Oh?" Rachel raised a teasing brow. "So I suppose you wouldn't like special attention tomorrow? Since you don't like me right now..."

"We will see..." she said stated. "But not... a cat."

"So you don't want to be pet?" Rachel smiled at her, all wide eyed innocence.

Santana blushed and nudged Rachel's leg under the table. "Trouble..."

She snickered as the waiter came up to take their orders. Once he left, she turned back to Brooklyn. "So, tell me about Lily's kitty. What do you like about her?"

"She's soft and purrs so loud!" Brooklyn exclaimed, "She's like a little fuzzy thing and she licks my nose."

"Is she still a baby kitty? Or is she all grown?" Rachel asked curiously.

"She's big," Brooklyn replied. "I still likes her."

"I see," she nodded. "Does Lily take care of the kitty or her mom? Kitties take a lot of care and are a big responsibility after all."

"Lily's sister is big, she's twelve," Brooklyn explained. "Lily is seven, but she helps a lot with feeding and cleaning."

"Mmm, twelve," Rachel mused, glancing at Santana. "That sounds like big enough for a pet, don't you think, Santana? Lily's mom probably had to think a lot to decide that would be a good age."

"Yep," Santana said, "but every family is different." She took a sip of her cocoa. "Maybe Lily can let you play with her family's cat until you get big enough to have one."

Brooklyn pouted. "But I'm already big, Mommy. I'm six!"

"Yes, I know. But, we are not ready to have a kitten and mommy told you not until you're bigger."

She pouted. "No fair."

"Brooklyn, you need to be bigger first," Rachel pointed out gently. "Lily has her big sister to help but you're our only little girl. And besides, I'm not sure if we can have pets yet in our home. I'll have to check and that'll take a while."

The girl pouted. "Fine... I understand."

"If it's any consolation, I'll be home more for a while," she offered. "I only have to fly out sometimes for a day or two to be interviewed on TV about the movie right now."

"Really!" Brooklyn smiled. "Yay!" She clapped as the pizza came. Santana got a slice for the little girl and cut it and blew on it for her. When she slid it over to Brooklyn the girl smiled and blew on it herself. "Thank you, mommy."

"Welcome babe." Santana smiled and took her own piece out.

"I'm still amazed that this place offers a vegan friendly pie," Rachel mused, preparing her own small pizza.

"Good place with foods for everyone!" Brooklyn smiled across the table, her face smeared with tomato sauce.

"I guess so," Rachel laughed, reaching over to wipe a drip away before it could get on the girl's shirt.

* * *

Later that night found them curled together in the middle of Rachel and Santana's bed with Brooklyn nestled down between them happily.

"Mommy," she yawned, warm and happy. "time for my story, please?"

Santana smiled and kissed her daughter's head. "The first time that I ever saw your face was when the doctor put the magic ultrasound wand on my tummy. I heard your heartbeat and watched your little head while you were in my tummy," she began. She told this story to Brooklyn every year on her birthday and it was the little girl's favorite. "I was so in love with you from the moment I felt you move, but when I got to see you..." she smiled, remembering her daughter's image on the ultrasound in the tiny little clinic she had to drive to Dayton, Ohio to go to her appointments at. "So beautiful."

"Was she tiny?" Rachel whispered, hearing the story for the first time. "I bet she was so tiny and precious as a baby..."

The young mother nodded. "When I went into labour and got put in the hospital to have you," she bopped Brooklyn's nose, "I was so excited to meet you." Santana left out how scared and the fact she was crying and screaming she wasn't ready. "I just knew everything would be better once I got to hold you in my arms."

"I wish I could have been there," Rachel whispered as Brooklyn smiled up at Santana and hugged her. "I wish I could have at least held your hand though that, Santana."

"You're here now, Momma," Brooklyn pointed out, grinning at her, tugging on her hand.

Rachel smiled down at her before leaning in to kiss the top of her head. "So I am, sweetie."

"After many, _many_ hours... The nurse handed me my little gross looking bundle of Brooklyn."

"I was not gross!" Brooklyn pouted. "You said I was your special gift!"

Rachel laughed. "Babies are messy when they're first born. But they're still perfect."

Santana laughed and kissed her daughter's nose. "You were slimy and covered in grossness but you were all mine. Once they cleaned you off, they laid you in my arms and you opened your big eyes and looked at me." She blinked away the tears that came to her eyes at the memory. "You looked at me like you knew me."

"You're my mommy," Brooklyn pointed out as if it was obvious. "I grew in you so I knowed you."

"I know," she smiled, "but I never knew that babies could know their mommies that fast." She cooed, "That I could love you that much."

"Brooklyn's special," Rachel murmured, brushing her fingers through the little girl's hair. "I never knew I could love a little girl as much as I love you after all," she admitted, with a shy smile. "Even if I didn't get to be there to meet you when your mom did."

Santana nodded. "Brooklyn, you are a special present to me and now Rachel and that's why we love you so much."

"I'm the _best_ present!" she cried happily, wiggling between them. "Do I get to sleeps with you and Momma?"

"You are my best surprise," Santana smiled and pulled the blankets up over her. "And yes, birthday girls get special snuggles."

"Yay," Brooklyn cheered sleepily. "Everyone's home and everyone loves me. I'm lucky and happy. Best birthday ever, Mommies."

Santana just chuckled and curled into her daughter's side. "Go to sleep, little one."

She yawned again, closing her eyes and snuggling into her mom's chest. "Love you."

"We love you too, sweetie," Rachel whispered kissing the top of her head and wrapping her arm around her and Santana. "Good night, Brooklyn. Good night, Santana."


	33. Chapter 33

Three weeks later, Rachel found herself trudging down the hall towards the apartment with her overnight bag dangling from tired fingers. When the studio had said a few interviews, she hadn't realized that they'd have her practically hopping all over the world. Thankfully the ones in Japan were done via video conference from Quinn's office, but she'd still had to fly out to LA to interview with Conan and Jimmy Kimmel. They were perfect gentleman and it had been an honor to be invited, but she was exhausted from flying out there last night and only just getting back now.

"I'm home," she called out tiredly as she pushed the door open and dropped her keys into the dish on the hall table.

"Momma!" Brooklyn cried from somewhere in the apartment, managing to fling herself down the hall and into Rachel's arms before the woman even had a chance to take off her coat. "I missed you so much last night."

Rachel hugged her, breathing in the warm, relaxing scent of clean little girl for a moment before replying. "I missed you too. Was Mommy okay while I was gone?"

"Uh-huh," Brooklyn nodded, "but she missed you lots. I could tell. She stayed up super, super late again."

"Uh-oh," she said, letting go of Brooklyn so she could shrug out of her coat and put her bag down. "Think I can help with that?"

"Uh-huh."

Rachel smiled. "And what would you recommend, Dr Brooklyn?"

"Cuddles." She nodded firmly. "Lots of cuddles. Mommy's always happiest after cuddles with you, Momma."

"Is she now?"

Brooklyn smiled and nodded. "She is. I got up late and saw her light on... it was really late, Rachie."

"You shouldn't have been up, little one," Rachel chided gently, "but I'll make sure she gets lots of sleep tonight, okay? We'll take care of her."

"I had to pee!" Brooklyn complained. "I woke ups and she was awake too."

Rachel laughed. "It's okay. Next time when I'm away working and you wake up when it's super, super late and she's up, go and tell her you need cuddles to sleep with, okay?" She scooped Brooklyn up and headed down the hall. "Now, where is that beautiful mommy of yours? Hmm? I think I need to give her a big _I'm home_ hug and kiss, don't you?"

"She's drawing in the kitchen," Brooklyn chirped. "She's making soup for dinner."

"That sounds lovely. Does she like her Christmas gift from me?" she asked, setting Brooklyn down and heading into the kitchen.

"Yes! She uses it all the time!" Brooklyn skipped along and slid into a chair. Santana looked up and smiled.

"Hey, you," she said as she put the tablet down and got up to hug Rachel.

"Hi, beautiful," Rachel murmured, leaning up to kiss her softly and relaxing into her embrace. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," she whispered into Rachel's neck. "Did you have a good flight? You looked hot as hell on Leno."

"I save the dress," she teased, wrapping her arms around Santana's waist and leaning into her. "It was good enough because it was bringing me home to the two of you, but nothing to write home about. Did you have a good night?"

"Yoga class after school, dinner, homework and story times," Santana said as she went over to the stove and stirred the soup. "The normal."

"And sleep?" Rachel asked softly, a knowing smile on her lips. "Did you get as little as I did?"

Brooklyn gasped overhearing. "You didn't sleeps either, Momma?"

Rachel shook her head ruefully. "I missed you and your mom too much."

Santana smiled softly but looked worried as she glanced at Rachel. "I wish you'd take medication or something when you can't sleep, you need to rest your voice or you'll get sick."

"I highly doubt medicated sleep - with all of the accompanying possible side effects - would assist my voice in retaining it's quality any more than a sleepless night here or there would harm it," she shrugged. "But thank you for worrying about me."

"Then take a natural thing, you have enough herbal crap to overdose a hippy. One must be good for sleep," Santana replied.

"Santana, I had to get up insanely early to catch the plane to bring me home this soon." She shook her head with a tiny smile. "It's okay. I'm sure if I'd been there longer, I'd have managed to get some sleep. I just wanted to come home. That's all."

"I know... I just don't want you to get sick," Santana said.

"I don't want you to get sick either," Rachel whispered, coming up behind Santana to wrap her arms around her waist and lean against her back. "We need to promise each other we'll try and sleep even when we're apart, okay? Don't make me find an herbal remedy to help _you_ sleep," she mock threatened.

Over at the kitchen table, Brooklyn beamed watching the two of the interact. Having the two people she loved most obviously loving each other made her the happiest kid around. Being able to call them both _hers_ and her _moms_ at that was the cherry on her sundae.

Santana nodded and leaned back into the other woman. "I know," she said softly, "I know... I just had therapy last night and couldn't sleep." She shrugged and looked at the soup. "Are you hungry?"

"For your cooking?" Rachel laughed, squeezing her arms a little tighter around Santana for a moment. "Always. And you should have called me if you couldn't sleep. You know I would have listened and maybe we could have fallen asleep together for a little bit."

"I was okay," she said, "I just thinking..." She shrugged as she reached for bowls. "Brooke? Do you wanna get the bread and salad out of the fridge?"

"Okay," Brooklyn nodded, sliding off her chair and going over to pull the refrigerator door open with both hands.

"Just because you're okay," Rachel whispered, kissing the side of her neck by standing on tiptoes for a second, "doesn't mean I wouldn't like to hear your voice or even just listen to the sound of your breathing if you have nothing to say, if that doesn't make me into a completely over romantic sap."

Santana smiled and kissed Rachel softly. "Thank you," she said before grabbing a ladle and starting to distribute the bowls of soup.

"You're welcome," Rachel teased, letting go of her to help Brooklyn with the bottle of juice she was reaching for.

Santana moved the bowls to the table and took the loaf of bread and cut some slices and put it in the bread basket before placing it on the table. She grabbed a few ice cubes from the freezer and plopped them in her daughter's soup.

Rachel poured juice into glasses and handed each one to Brooklyn to carry carefully to the table before tossing the salad in a larger bowl and bringing it to the table. "Lunch with my two favorite girls is the best reason to catch a red eye from LA in my studied opinion," she added with a smile as she sat down.

"Yummy," Brooklyn said as she took a big drink from her juice. "Thank you, Mommy, for making foods," she said as she moved her ice cube around in her bowl.

"Welcome, darling," she smiled as she put salad on the plates for everyone.

"I agree with the sentiment," Rachel smirked, pouring a little dressing on her salad and helping Brooklyn with hers. "There's something decidedly nice about getting to come home to a warm, home cooked meal after a long day. You should try it sometime, Santana," she teased gently.

"It's part of mommy duty." Santana laughed. "Oh! Jay and Quinn want to have us over for dinner in a few weeks for a housewarming thing," she mentioned recalling her conversation earlier.

"Housewarming?" Rachel raised a brow as she finished dressing Santana's salad. "For what? Did one of them move or something?"

"Evidently they are going to cohabitate." Santana shrugged as she took a bite of her soup.

"Really?" Rachel looked down at her bowl, trying to ignore the pesky sting when she realized that Quinn hadn't even thought to tell her things were advancing with Jay. So much for never losing her. "I see... I wonder when that happened. Well, I suppose I'll have to have a fruit basket sent over or something."

"I haven't really talked to her," Santana said, "since Christmas. But you guys were okay then. I mean, I thought it was fine."

"I thought it was as well." Rachel shrugged, stirring her soup to cool it. "But I think I'm going to be busy the night of the dinner. You and Brooklyn should go though. Since you were told and all. If Quinn doesn't wish to speak to me, that's her prerogative though it is mildly disappointing as despite the mess of the last few months, I did believe she was one of my best friends."

"She is, don't be so dramatic. Don't cast her off, okay? I bet you didn't tell her we live together either," Santana pointed out.

"Well, no. I didn't exactly want to be told it wasn't an option." She shrugged. "Nor did I want to have to move in with Ray for any period of time. After all, you do recall what she pushed me to agree to after she found out we were exploring our relationship the first time, even if I didn't know she knew at the time. And I'm not casting her off, I simply don't wish to go where I'm not invited."

Santana rolled her eyes at Rachel's stubbornness. "Whatever," she sighed and looked to Brooklyn, "how's the soup?"

"Good!" Brooklyn chirped around a spoonful. Swallowing she looked worriedly between the two women. "Mommy, are Momma and Auntie Q fighting? Why would Momma have to live with Ray if she told Auntie Q we lives together?"

"No reason, babe," Santana sighed, sending a pointed look at Rachel for worrying her daughter. "She wouldn't have to. Rachel's just being silly."

"Of course I am," Rachel smiled reassuringly at Brooklyn. "I'm just sad Quinn didn't tell me about moving in with Jay. I thought she would because we're friends. That's all."

"Oh, she just forgotted." Brooklyn shrugged. "Happens. No needs be sad."

Rachel chuckled. "So wise for so young. I'm sure you're right. Eat up now, don't let your soup get too cold." She nodded and slurped the noodles in her soup. Rachel smiled sheepishly at Santana and mouthed "Sorry" across the table with a sheepish shrug. "So what did the two of you have planned for today?" she asked curiously.

"I'm going to play with Lily and mom was gonna be a lump and not do nothing," Brooklyn teased.

"No, I need to clean your messy house," she said as she looked at her child.

"You're not our housekeeper, Santana," Rachel chided with a laugh. "How about I help and then we can go and get some coffee or something to wait for Brooklyn to finish her playdate with Lily?"

"Sounds good." Santana said, "but it's not me being a housekeeper. I always clean you're just not around when I do." She shrugged.

"Be that as it may," Rachel replied, taking a sip of her juice between bites of soup, "there's no reason I can't pull my weight and help when I'm home. We're a team here and it's hardly fair of me to leave all of the house chores on your shoulders. Speaking of leaving things though... Brooklyn, what would you say to us pulling the last of my things out of your room and decorating it this weekend?"

"How?" she asked curiously.

"How?" Rachel looked confused. "Well, however you'd like. We can paint or get you some posters for the walls or maybe a chalkboard to hang up. It's your room, sweetie. I just assumed since we should all be home this weekend for once you'd like to personalize it some."

"I can paint it?" she asked curiously. "Can Mommy paint something on the wall special just for me?"

"I'm sure she can," Rachel glanced at Santana. "We'll have to paint it a neutral color again if we ever decide to move, but I think it's worth it to give you your own special place now that you're a big girl and your mom has me to keep her company at night. Don't you think, Santana?" She smiled at the woman, doing her best to keep from making Brooklyn not having her own room before sound like it was because of some failing of Santana's to provide for Brooklyn or that she had her own room now because Santana didn't need her anymore.

Santana nodded. "What," she cleared her throat, "what would you like on the walls?" she said not loving the feeling that she had about Brooklyn's independence.

Brooklyn thought about it for a moment. "Princesses? And Spider-mans?" She bit her lip worriedly after a moment. "Does this mean I can't sleeps with you and Momma no mores?" She looked upset at that idea.

"Of course it doesn't," Rachel reassured her. "We love when you come and snuggle with us. Especially since our bed is so big and we need help to fill it up and make it nice and warm at night!" She grinned at Brooklyn.

"I can paint that," she said softly. "I can draw it up for you to see today. And," Santana smiled, reassured by her response, "you can always sleep with me."

"Can I help paints?" Brooklyn asked excitedly. "And cans you and Momma be the princesses? So you'll always be in my room like before and Momma will always be home even when she hasta work?"

"Sounds perfect," Santana said as she nudged the salad to her daughter. "Eat up, okay?"

"I can't eats!" she exclaimed, "Too happy!"

Rachel laughed. "Nonsense. You can eat even when you're happy. Look you even have extra baby tomatoes and pea pods like you like," she pointed out, spearing her own tomato to pop in her mouth.

"Fine," Brooklyn stated as she popped a tomato in her mouth. "Still happy."

"It's good to be happy," Rachel murmured, smiling over at Santana. "I'm happy I'm home and get some time with my two favorite girls in the whole world. You're happy about decorating your room. How about you, Santana? What are you happy about?"

"Just being here with you two," Santana said as she finished her lunch. "Rachel, do you want to get Brooke ready for Lily while I clean up here?"

"Sure, I can do that," she smiled getting up to put the dishes in the sink and leaning down to kiss Santana gently as she passed. "Maybe," she whispered, "we could go see a movie later while she's playing? Make it a little date?"

"That sounds nice, we could do that."

"Good. Sounds like a plan," Rachel teased with a grin. "Come on, sweetie. Let's get you ready to go play, okay?"

Brooklyn nodded as she hopped up and headed out of the room with Rachel while Santana started on the dishes.

* * *

Two days later, Rachel knocked on Quinn's office door and poked her head in. "You wanted to see me?" she asked, vaguely curious.

Quinn looked up. "Hey! I'm sorry I've been a shit manager since you go back... It's been insanity with the release, the firm, the studio... just everything," she rambled.

"Oh, is that all?" she shrugged. "That's okay. I haven't really wanted any work with all the promotional work I'm doing right now, so it's not a big deal."

Quinn nodded. "Sit?" she offered nervously. "Look, I know you hate me..."

"Okay," Rachel drew the word out, sitting uncertainly, not sure what Quinn wanted. "I don't hate you, Quinn. Don't be ridiculous."

"I fucked up with the movie... I thought it would help you.. I should have known better," Quinn sighed. "But... I never wanted to hurt you. You And San caught me off guard."

Rachel shook her head. "The _movie_ wasn't the problem, Quinn. I was fine with _that_. It was debasing myself to be part of a PR relationship as if I couldn't be considered valid as an actor in my own right without a man to hang off the arm of that made me upset. And the fact that you did it _knowing_ that Santana and I were attempting to explore a relationship truly cut me."

"I'm sorry... I was... I thought it would help ease the pressure when the tabloids started loitering around..." She rubbed her face. "I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "It did a very good job of getting their attention _on_ me. You can't control the media, Quinn," she murmured softly. "When you try everything just gets more and more messed up. I can handle the press if you let me." She offered a lopsided smile. "I _have_ been practicing for it my entire life after all."

"Freak," Quinn teased. "Are we okay? I really don't like not having my best friend to talk to."

Rachel blinked. "Are we?" she asked softly. "Best friends I mean. I mean... I didn't even get to hear that you'd decided to move in with Jay. I had to hear about it secondhand from Santana." She smiled, sadly, looking down at her hands, "I didn't even warrant a text to invite me to your housewarming thing. Heck, I didn't even know the two of you were that serious... so I guess I'm not as good of a friend as I'd thought."

"Did you tell me you moved in with Santana? Ajay and I are trying to be okay. He's moving in with me and I didn't tell anyone because I'm nervous and I didn't want to mess anything up with him..."

"Quinn, when you found out that Santana and I were exploring our relationship - from _Santana_ who'd made me promise not to tell anyone as a condition of our attempting things I might add," Rachel pointed out, "your first response was to push me into a PR relationship which I expressly told you I didn't want. Are you at all surprised that I didn't tell you I wanted them to live with me after that? I didn't want to be told I _couldn't_ ," she muttered, her jaw tight as she held back how upset she'd been about finding out Quinn had known about her and Santana when she'd pushed her at Ray.

She sighed. "I made a mistake... Maybe I shouldn't be your manager since what I think might help your career is obviously not want you want."

"What I _want_ , Quinn, is for you to listen when I tell you I _don't_ want something." She sighed, shaking her head. "I want you as my manager. I trust you to take care of me and keep me on track. But I also want you as my _friend_ and as my friend, I want to know you'll listen when I'm telling you something." She shook her head. "I like Ray. He's a nice guy. But he's also further along the Kinsey scale than Kurt and it's not exactly a huge secret."

"I will always listen to you..." Quinn said softly. "I'll never try to control your career by altering your life."

"Good," Rachel nodded, "because my career _isn't_ my life despite how I behaved in high school and occasionally in college. You. Santana. Brooklyn. Maybe Jay eventually," she smiled lopsidedly. "All of you are my _life_. If an accident happened and I had to give up my career," she took a breath and let it out slowly, "I could move on. I could find something else to do with my life. But if I lost all of you?" she could only shrug with a sheepish smile, shaking her head.

"I think I feel the same way now," Quinn replied. "None of the work matters if I have no one to spend time with."

"Then," she looked at Quinn quietly for a moment, "can you just be happy for me being with Santana and stop making us lie? It hurts to not be able to even hold her hand in public or give each other a hug if we want while out together because we can't let anyone see. Which is not to say we _would_ necessarily, but it's awful feeling like you _can't_. I," she bit her lip, looking down at her hands, "I want with her what you're apparently finding with Jay, Quinn. Is it too much to ask?"

"Right now, it's the studio wanting to keep you two down, I just want to keep you out of the press," Quinn said. "I can draft a press release for when you aren't promoting on your contract if that's what you want."

Rachel laughed, shaking her head. "Do you really think that Santana would accept that? No, I don't want a press release. My private life is just that. Private. I'm not going to sit down in front of a swarm of idiots just to explain that I happen to love my girlfriend and consider her daughter my own." She frowned. "Especially not the last. I'm not unaware of the dangers of fame, Quinn. I want to do everything I can to avoid those dangers impacting their lives as much as possible."

"Okay," Quinn nodded, "I can handle that."

"Good." She licked her lips and offered a shy smile. "Now, what's this about my best friend moving in with this no account boyfriend of hers?"

"He's moving in with me," Quinn corrected. "It was pointless him keeping his place in queens when he works here and was at my place all the time anyway." She smiled, "but, yeah we're moving in together."

Rachel's smile warmed slightly, "Are you happy?" It was the most important question as far as she was concerned and the only one that struck her as being really pertinent.

"Very." Quinn smiled. "He's good... Like really good and he cares about me and doesn't think I'm crazy or damaged."

"Good, because you're neither of those things. I'm glad you're happy, Quinn. You deserve it after everything you've been through. It's about time for life to give you some _real_ happiness for a change."

"You deserve it too," she replied. "How's everything with Santana?"

At that, Rachel's smile truly brightened. "Good. Really good. Amazing even. She's so sweet, Quinn. I never would have imagined she could be so gentle in high school, but she's just so warm and caring..." She trailed off, closing her eyes with a soft smile. "Being with her, really _being_ with her is better than my wildest imagination. It's hard with all the traveling I'm doing right now and we both have things to work through, but," she shook her head with a happy smile, "even lying to the world and hiding everything, I don't believe I've ever been happier."

"I'm happy for you." Quinn smiled. "I'm glad it's working... She deserves some happiness."

Rachel nodded. "She does and I hope more than anything that I can be the one to give it to her." She smiled softly. "It's hard to leave all the time, but knowing her and Brooklyn are waiting for me at home makes everything seem a little easier... does that make any sense?"

"Coming home to someone is so much better than coming home to an empty place," she said. "How's Brooklyn taking everything?"

"I'll never claim to have the most experience with children," Rachel shrugged, "but she seems to be happy with the arrangement." She laughed softly, shaking her head. "Did you know she calls me Momma? She's so adorable. Even if Santana and I don't work out, I want to be there for her forever."

Quinn thought for a few minutes. "Is Santana okay with that?" she asked softly. "Her daughter feeling that close to someone else?"

"She seems to be?" She looked uncertain, toying with her fingers. "She said it was okay... she brought it up... I thought," she worried at her lip, "Do you think I've done something wrong being okay with it? I truly don't want to mess anything up with them, Quinn..."

"The only thing I could think of is her being scared of you and her not working out and hurting Brooklyn. Brooklyn was all she had in the world and now her daughter's starting to rely on someone else? Her feelings might get hurt or she might feel left out," Quinn said.

"I don't want that." Rachel twisted her fingers together anxiously. "I don't want her to ever feel left out or hurt because of me. I don't ever want to hurt either of them..."

"I know you don't..." Quinn leaned over and put her hand over Rachel's. "I'm not saying she feels like that, I'm just saying that's how I would feel and I know that Santana's world revolves around Brooklyn and she might get scared not having her all to herself."

She looked scared and worried when she looked up at Quinn. "So... I might mess things up with Santana by loving Brooklyn? I... I can't not love her. I'm attached to both of them. What do I do?" Her heart felt like it was being squeezed. "I need them. I don't want to mess this up."

"I'm not saying that," Quinn said. "What I'm saying is that you need to let San get used to this on her own terms. Don't change things dramatically, just he things happen naturally."

Rachel blinked in confusion. "But aren't I doing that? Am I going to fast for her?" She bit her lip again, fretting. "I am, aren't I. I'm not thinking at _all_ , am I. I'm just... I'm _happy_ with them and I want them to be with me..."

"No, I don't know she hasn't said anything," Quinn said. "I'm just worried because Santana doesn't handle change well and I don't want her fears to hurt your relationship. So just... Talk to her okay? Make sure she's on the same page as you are."

"If you don't know, why are you making me worry?!" she gasped. "You're making me think I'm being my worst with them and will chase them away! Don't you know how important they are to me, Quinn?" she finally asked softly. "I talk to Santana all the time. I've been doing my best to follow _her_ lead. I didn't even tell you we were trying to be together when she asked me not to!"

"C-calm down!" Quinn stammered. "I know Santana... I know you do too but I want you to understand she'd lie and say she's ok to keep you and Brooke happy."

Rachel frowned. "I don't want her to lie to me though. If she's not happy, I want her to tell me so we can try and fix it. Wouldn't she understand that?"

Quinn laughed. "it's Santana! She has the emotional capabilities of a dolphin."

"Dolphins are highly emotional and intelligent creatures, Quinn," Rachel scolded. "That's why it's so inhumane to purchase products that are not reliably sourced from cruelty free fishers."

Quinn rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "I'm just saying Santana has had issues expressing her feelings... Especially when it might actually hurt someone she really cares about."

"That's why she's still going to her sessions," Rachel pointed out. "We do fight and argue, Quinn. It's not like everything is daisies and bunny rabbits all the time. We're both passionate people who feel things very strongly, but as you well know, neither of us are exceptionally well versed in properly expressing those feelings. We're working on it though."

"Good, that's all I want."

"Well, all _I_ want is for you to finally be happy." Rachel smiled lopsidedly, deliberately changing the subject. "I hope Jay is able to do that for you. I know I wasn't."

"We're better as friends." Quinn smiled. "So tell me," her eyes sparkled as she smirked, "is San as good in bed as everyone used to say?"

Rachel laughed with some of the first real delight since she'd come in the office. " _Better_ ," she admitted with a sly smirk. "She just seems to know intuitively what I need, how powerfully or gently I need it and just the right places as well. I'd say I'm terribly sorry, Quinn, but I'm afraid your role as the best lover I've ever had has been very decidedly usurped," she grinned, "but I'm really not very sorry at all. And when it's her turn..." she shook her head with a tiny awed smile.

"I'm mildly offended, but I'm glad her loins keep you happy." Quinn smiled. "You guys are actually having sex with Brooklyn around? I'm surprised."

"Oh sweet Barbra, no!" Rachel laughed. "It's entirely too hard to stay quiet when we're together to risk that. But a friend of hers from school lives a couple blocks away from our building, so playdates and sleepovers give us plenty of opportunities." She smirked at Quinn. "What about you and your boy? I would assume given the change in living arrangements that things have been consummated so to speak?"

"Yes," she blushed, "ifrequently/i..." She looked up shyly. "It's amazing... He's not selfish. He actually pouts when I don't let him touch me."

"Ooh, lucky," Rachel teased. "Most men I've known wouldn't bother. You should keep him."

"I'm trying." she said softly, "I'm working hard in therapy to make sure someday I can give him what he wants. To get to a place where I want... to have a family."

Rachel's smile brightened. "You think you might want to have a family someday? My, he _is_ impressive."

She swatted at Rachel's arm. "Like you're not already picturing Santana pregnant again with a little Berry spawn."

"Please," she snorted. "We both know that's not possible. I just want to enjoy what I have right now. No need to rush into anything." She smiled softly. "There's plenty of time and Brooklyn is plenty for us right now."

"Doesn't mean you're not thinking about it," Quinn said. "She does make beautiful babies... and is an amazing mother." She smiled teasingly. "Still on your life plan or did the Lopezes derail you?"

Rachel smirked. "Considering that my life plan had me married to some man and on route to my own two pregnancies by this point, I would say that train derailed sometime in college. Possibly during the night with the Smirnoff and in depth investigation of my tonsils by means of your tongue?" she teased. "Not to mention the _rest_ of my body."

Quinn blushed and bit her lip. "You liked it," she said before looking at Rachel. "And it was the least I could do after your steady flings after you and Finn ended."

"The _least_ you could do was get me drunk enough to forgo my inhibitions and finally throw myself on the mercies of your lips and fingers?" she teased, laughing. "My, I wonder what the _most_ you could have done would have been. I distinctly seem to recall passing out at _least_ once that night from sheer climactic exhaustion after all."

"I'm a giver," she laughed, "what can I say? But now I hear I'm out ranked in the lover department... But I guess I can live with knowing it's Santana that's doing it for you."

"Well, it's not like you aren't all tied up with lover boy," Rachel teased. "Possibly literally. I had to find _some_ one who was at least your equal in the bedroom and Santana was surprisingly willing given the incredibly awkward nature of our beginning."

"I'm never tied up," she smirked, as she thought of her and Jay's experiment with his handcuffs. "And plus, she went a long time without sex. She's got a lot to make up for."

"She makes up." Rachel smirked with a nod. " _More_ than makes up. Trust me. And you're not letting your kinky side out with Jay? I'm surprised."

"Oh I am... I'm just not the one tied up."

Rachel laughed with wide-eyed amazement. "You mean you actually found a man willing to submit to you? Marry him. Tie him up and keep him in your closet. I know an excellent source of rope thanks to talking to the stagehands if you need any assistance with that. But keep him."

Quinn nodded. "He's a cop so I should let him out for work... But yeah he likes when I take control."

"I better be invited to your wedding," she half-teased. "I think I want to see the moment he submits to you for the rest of your lives."

"That will be at the wedding night," she said, "but the same for you and San."

Rachel smiled lopsidedly and shrugged. "I don't know if we'll get married. Santana seems far more comfortable not telling anyone ever about us, so... marriage would be a bit telling the masses."

"She's gun shy after being outted to the world," Quinn reminded her. "Give her time, you guys are still new."

"I'm not too concerned over it," she shrugged. "I know how I feel about her and how she feels about me and how Brooklyn feels. I don't need anyone else blessing our being together to know we're together. As for the legal things, well... that's what lawyers are for right? And it's not that hard to make each other our emergency contacts."

"Very true." Quinn smiled. "Alright, it's been a lovely heart to heart, but I need to get some work done," Quinn stated. "I expect to see you and San at the apartment Sunday then?"

"Brooklyn as well, I'd expect?" Rachel asked, raising a brow. "You know neither of us will come if she's not allowed and she does love her Aunt Quinn."

"Of course, Ajay is looking forward to her coming," Quinn said. "Have a good day off."

Leaning over, Rachel kissed her cheek. "Thank you for finally getting the help you needed, Quinn. I love you and I'm glad you're finally happy. I'll see you on Sunday," she called back over her shoulder as she headed out of the office with a pleased smile.


	34. Chapter 34

For a few days Santana had begun fighting a stuffy nose and a headache. Rachel was out of town again and she couldn't afford to not go into work, so she had loaded up on non drowsy cough medication and trudged into work. Keeping up with Brooklyn while under the weather was a challenge, the excitable and active little girl not a fan of her mom not feeling well and even more so not a fan of not being able to play with her.

Brooklyn heard the coughs getting worse from the bathroom where Santana had gone to take a bath when they got home and pouted worriedly. Sneaking her mother's phone from her purse and carefully pushing the icon that said Rachel, she held the phone to her ear and waited for her other parent to answer.

* * *

In Chicago just walking out of the studio where she'd been filming an interview for a local news affiliate, Rachel pulled her phone out of her purse when she heard the familiar strains of Santana's version of _Valerie_ from their Glee club years. Flipping it open, she held it up to her ear as she climbed into the cab to head to the hotel.

"Perfect timing, love. I'm just getting out of the studio now," she spoke with a smile, always happy to hear her lover's voice after two hours pretending like she was with Ray Gomez still. "How is everything?"

* * *

"Hi, momma," Brooklyn said as she settled on the couch. "It's Brooklyn not mommy."

"Brooklyn?" Rachel sounded startled. "Not that I don't love to hear your voice, sweetie, but where's Mommy? Is everything okay?"

"She's taking a bath cuz I tolds her to." Brooklyn said, "Mommy doesn't feel good. When do you come home again?"

"She's sick?" The worry in her voice was almost platible. "My flight home is in a couple hours, but I'll see if I can't get an earlier flight. I'll be home this evening at the latest, okay? Can you take care of her until then?"

"Yes, momma," Brooklyn said. "I take care of her."

* * *

"Good, sweetie. I'll be home as soon as I can to help, okay?" Rachel reassured, paying the cab and heading up to her room to start throwing her things into her luggage. "I promise I will. I'll call you when I'm on the plane and when I land so you know how long until I'll be home, okay?"

"Okay. Don't tells her I called... She'd be mad." Brooklyn said. "I loves you."

"I won't tell her. You can answer the phone when I call and tell me again, okay?" Rachel smiled reassuringly. "I love you too, sweetie. Now I have to say goodbye so I can call the airline to try and get an earlier flight. I'll be home soon. Promise."

* * *

"Okay, Momma," Brooklyn smiled as she hung up and put the phone back in her mom's bag. She went to the fridge and got two juice boxes out when she heard her mom coming out if the bath.

Santana came out of the bathroom bundled in her robe with her damp hair tied in a messy bun and headed into her room. Brooklyn quickly followed and scrambled up to laid on the bed with her.

"Got you juice, Mommy," she said as she laid down with her.

"Thank you, baby," Santana whispered around her sore throat and cuddled her close.

* * *

Three hours and two phone calls later, Rachel was striding briskly down the hall of the apartment building towards the apartment she shared with Santana and Brooklyn. She fumbled with her keys for a moment and pushed the door open, dropping her keys on the hall table and her overnight bag on the floor as she pushed the door closed and locked it again.

"Brooklyn? How's your mom feeling?" she called softly, not wanting to wake Santana up if she was sleeping. She unzipped her bag and pulled the white CVS bag from it before heading towards the bedrooms.

Brooklyn looked up from her movie and shrugged. "She says she fine, but she's not feeling good. She throwed up," she said with a wrinkled up nose, grossed out by the event. "She said I should watch a movie for a bit and she will play soon."

"That sounds like a good idea." Rachel smiled, leaning down to give her a hug. "Why don't you put these freezer pops in the freezer so they'll get cold and I'll go check on your mom, okay?" she asked, handing over the box of freezer pops. "They're for your mom, but I bet I can talk her into letting you have one after dinner if they're frozen, okay? We'll call it dessert."

Brooklyn climbed off the couch and took them into the kitchen before coming back out and hugging Rachel. "Missed you," she said. "Go make momma better."

"I missed you too, sweetie. I'll do my best." She smiled at the little girl, kissing the top of her head before heading into the dark bedroom. Toeing off her shoes and draping her jacket over the back of her desk chair, she padded over and crawled into bed next to Santana, wrapping her arms around her. "I'm home, love," she whispered, kissing a fevered cheek. "I'm going to take care of you now."

Santana looked up, her fevered brow wrinkled and she blinked her eyes open. "Rae?" she asked, her throat causing her voice to come out in a rasp.

"Yes, Santana," Rachel whispered, snuggling close despite the heat from her fevered lover. "I'm here. Why didn't you tell me you were sick, baby?"

Santana coughed into her arm. "I'm okay... I need to keep Brooklyn company," she said as she tried to sit up before getting dizzy and falling back, only to try struggling up again. "I'm not sick."

"Nonsense," she insisted, pushing Santana back down. "You're sick and you need to lie here and let me worry about taking care of you and our daughter, alright? The only thing you have to worry about is getting better." She smiled gently. "I think I can handle keeping Brooklyn company and taking care of the woman I love for a few days, Santana."

"I don't get sick," she whined. "I'm fine just tired..." She whimpered and rolled over towards the edge of the bed, starting to gag like she was going to throw up.

Rachel quickly grabbed the trashcan from beside the bed and held it so Santana could throw up into it if she needed to. "And I'm Barbra Streisand," she muttered under her breath. "Stop being so stubborn, Santana. I'm right here and I'm willing to take care of you and our daughter. Just _let_ me, please? There's no shame in being ill. It happens to everyone, even me."

"Shouldn't you be in Chicago still?" she whispered as she clung to the bin. "My tummy hurts..."

"No, nothing really films there anymore and Brooklyn told me you weren't feeling good when I called to tell you I was on my way home," Rachel reassured her. "My schedule is fully open for the foreseeable future to take care of my family. Don't worry."

She nodded and laid back. "I feel like death."

"Being sick _is_ one of the more unpleasant experiences," she agreed softly, wrapping an arm around her and cuddling close. "But I'm here and Brooklyn's here and we both want to take care of you. Will you let us?"

"I don't like being sick. My head hurts and my stomach hurts..."

"Can I do anything to make it better?" Rachel asked softly, gently rubbing circles on Santana's stomach. "Anything you need. Just tell me, okay?"

She shook her head and coughed. "Is Brooke okay?"

"She's fine. She's sitting on the couch watching a movie right now," she reassured. "I'll make her some dinner in a little bit too. From the looks of things she made herself a cheese sandwich for lunch. She's a good little girl."

Santana nodded, "I tried making something and I got nauseated and puked..." She sighed, feeling miserable. "I should've made sure she was safe in the kitchen."

"You can't really get hurt peeling slices of cheese out of their packaging and putting it on pre-sliced bread," Rachel teased gently. "Don't worry, okay? I'll take care of her. You'll both be fine. Promise."

"You're gonna get this plague..." Santana whined, "I feel disgusting..."

"If I catch it, then I catch it." She shrugged. "I'm not going to abandon you just because I might get sick. Besides, you need help with Brooklyn when you're not feeling well and I wouldn't deserve to be part of this family if I didn't drop everything to take care of either of you."

Santana coughed and nodded. Shaking, she gasped for breath.

"Maybe we should make you an appointment with the doctor," Rachel murmured worriedly, rubbing her back. "I'm not a great proponent of medicating illnesses, but if it could potentially reduce the strain on your body..."

"I've had a fever for two days," she admitted. "I don't want Brooklyn to get sick."

"That may be inevitable at this point," she pointed out, "but we're both here to take care of her if she does. I wish you'd told me you were ill sooner. I would have come home," she whispered, brushing Santana's hair back.

"You had to work..." Santana groaned, as she quickly got up and ran into the bathroom her head buried in the toilet as her stomach tried to expel the bile that was inside.

"As I told Quinn," Rachel got up with a sigh, following her in and kneeling beside her before reaching over to sweep her hair back, "my family is more important than work, Santana. There is absolutely nothing I'm doing right now that can't fairly easily be rescheduled. It's not an excuse. You and Brooklyn come first."

She vomited and fell back against the her lover. Rachel straightened up enough to reach for the washcloth by the sink and soak it in cold water before wringing it out. Moving carefully, she pulled Santana's hair back and gently wiped off her face before rinsing the cloth out and settling it around her neck.

"You should have called me," she chided gently. "What would you have done if you'd become so ill that Brooklyn couldn't help? You're not alone anymore, Santana. You have me. Or, if I'm trapped far away, you have Quinn. We're both here to help if you need us. You know that."

"I wasn't this sick yesterday," she complained. "I took some aspirin and thought I'd be okay today..."

"Obviously the virus causing your internal discomfort finished incubating," Rachel offered. "If you're not feeling any better by tomorrow, I'm making an appointment and taking you to the doctor. I'll get Quinn to babysit Brooklyn for the time necessary if I must. I also stopped at picked up a package of ice pops for you on my way home, so you'll be able to get a little fluids in your stomach."

"I'll puke again," Santana complained, resting her head on Rachel's lap. "Everything hurts... This is worse than morning sickness was."

"You're sick, sweetheart," Rachel murmured, running her fingers through her hair. "You weren't ill when you were pregnant, just nauseous from the hormone balances changing in you as your body prepared to carry Brooklyn for nine months. I'm sure you feel fairly miserable right now, but I'll take care of you and Brooklyn and stay by your side whenever she doesn't need me. Alright?"

Santana sniffled and curled into herself. Her hair was a frizzed mess, her skin was pale and clammy and every time she took a breath she wheezed and coughed. Normally she wouldn't let Rachel see her at less than her best but she had no energy to move, let alone fight her.

"I'll be okay... Go be with Brooke."

"Nonsense," Rachel murmured, doing her best to gather her lover into her arms and get herself to her feet - Santana was still as small as she had been in high school, but Rachel wasn't any bigger either and it was a bit of a struggle. "You need me and Brooklyn is occupied with her movie right now. I'm sure she'll come and get me when it's finished or she gets hungry or otherwise needs me. Until then, my need to hold my sick lover outweighs things like that. Besides," she smiled lopsidedly as she managed to get them up off the floor and headed back in the direction of the bed, "you'd do the same for me if I were ill, would you not?"

"Uh-huh," she mumbled as she laid on the bed. "Cold," she said after a shiver ran through her body.

"Come on, let's get you under the covers and warm you up," she murmured, tugging them out from under Santana and over her before stripping down to her undershirt and panties and crawling in behind Santana to wrap her arms around her. "It's okay to let me take care of you sometimes. It makes me feel like I can help even when I can't."

"I'm supposed to be strong," she mumbled, "not... Not allowed to be weak. Had to fight and be strong." She blinked her dazed eyes closed. "Papi wouldn't have a loser daughter... Not strong enough," she rambled in her fever haze.

"Your father was an idiot," Rachel murmured, hugging Santana close. "First for that ridiculous logic and second for kicking you out because of Brooklyn. You _are_ strong, Santana. You're the strongest woman I know. Being sick doesn't make you weak and neither does relying on me. We can be stronger together..."

"He liked that I faced being outted... Thought that had character... When I was with Brittany it was _mi mami_ who told me I was no good. Then she wanted me gone when I got pregnant..." she coughed. "Need to prove that I can do it..."

"Your mom?" Rachel blinked, startled. She'd thought Santana's father had been behind her disappearance. She shook her head. "You can do it. You've been doing it for over six years. I think," she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I think your father would be proud of you."

"He's never been proud of me," she sniffled, "He's proud of my brother... Not me. Never me."

"It's been years, Santana, and you're amazing and doing well for yourself and your little girl," Rachel reassured her. "I'm sure he'd be proud of what you've accomplished."

She shook her head in between coughs. "No... I could never . None of us but Luis could make him happy."

"Well, what about your brother?" she tried. "Do you think he'd be proud of you? Or maybe want to meet his niece some day?"

"No," she trembled. "He doesn't know about her... He thought they kicked me out for being gay. He's in the army anyway... He hated that I was gay. Mami was the only one who didn't care if I liked girls..."

"I'm confused," Rachel admitted softly. "Did anyone in your family love you the way you deserved?"

She shrugged and closed her eyes. "They loved the idea of me... I just disappointed them all."

"Well you have a new family now," she reassured her, "and you don't disappoint me at all. And the Good Lord knows you don't disappoint Brooklyn either. We love you more than anything and if any of your family shows up to try and say otherwise ever well, I'll," she frowned, trying to think of a suitable response, "I'll punch them in the nose!"

Santana laughed which threw her into a coughing fit. "Silly," she choked out between coughs. Brooklyn peeked her head in.

"Mommy okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine... Gonna nap," Santana replied.

"Can I nap withs?" Brooklyn asked hopefully, wanting to be close to her moms. "I give extra hugs to make you betters."

"Is your movie done?" Rachel asked softly, leaving it up to Santana if she wanted the little girl to snuggle with them when she nodded.

" _Mija_ , I don't want you to get sick," Santana groaned. "Rachel will come out and lay with you okay?"

Brooklyn's little face crumpled. "But I wanna lays with you, Mommy! You always lays with me when I feels bad! Why can't I lays with you?"

Santana was too weak to fight. "You'll get sick," she said.

"Then you and Momma will takes care of me," Brooklyn insisted, clambering up into the bed to rest her head on her mom's chest. "You needs extra special hugs to get better, Mommy."

"Mommy also needs to rest quietly," Rachel whispered, leaning in to kiss the little girl's head, "so we're only going to cuddle for a little bit and then go make dinner, okay?"

Santana stifled a cough as she held her daughter. "Listen to Rachel..."

"Maybe Mommy should take her own advice," she teased gently, snuggling in beside them and wrapping an arm around her girls. "You don't have to worry about anything but getting better, Santana. I'm sure Brooklyn and I can take care of anything that comes up until you're better, right, Brooklyn?"

Brooklyn nodded, pleased by the idea of helping take care of her mom. "Uh-huh. We's gonna make you lots better, Mommy."

"Thanks," Santana mumbled before turning and coughing hard. She looked at Rachel her eyes pleading for Rachel to take Brooklyn out.

"Alright," Rachel whispered, leaning over to kiss Santana's forehead, before pulling what looked distinctly like a bell out of the nightstand table and setting it where Santana could reach it. "If you need anything, just ring this, okay? And don't ask why I have a bell. Let's just say that _It's a Wonderful Life_ had a major impact one year."

She chuckled and curled up, hugging her pillow as she tried to not throw up.

Moving the trashcan to where Santana could easily reach it if she needed it, Rachel climbed out of bed and scooped Brooklyn up. "Come on, sweetie. Let's go make some soup so Mommy can eat later if her stomach feels better."

"Wanna stay!" she cried. "Mommy! Please let me stay."

"Brooklyn," Rachel chided, "Mommy needs to sleep right now so she can feel better. We can come back and give her more cuddles and hugs later, okay? I promise. And we're not leaving, we're just going to the kitchen to cook. She'll be right here and if she needs anything, she'll ring the bell. Right, Santana?"

"Uh-huh," Santana whimpered. Brooklyn cried and clung to Rachel. "Stop crying, Brooke... Go play with Rach."

"Come on, sweetie," Rachel cooed, heading out of the room with the little girl in her arms. "We can get out our craft things in the kitchen after we eat and make your mom special get well soon presents, okay?"

"Did I make her sick? She never get sick before!" she cried. "I don't like when she's sick."

"I don't like when she's sick either, Brooklyn," she assured her, setting her down at the table and moving to get things out for soup. "But I'm sure you didn't make her sick. She's just been tired and worried with my being gone all the time so she caught a virus, maybe at school. I bet some of your classmates are sick, aren't they?"

"Yes. I don't like it." Brooklyn pouted.

"None of us like it when someone we love is sick," Rachel pointed out, beginning to put the things together to make soup. "Do you want to help me with this? You can tear the herbs up if you want," she offered, holding up a bag of soup herbs.

She sniffled and nodded and she let Rachel help her up on the counter. "Can I have milks?"

"Sure, sweetie," Rachel nodded, carefully adding potatoes, onions and carrots and the broth before handing Brooklyn the herbs. "Just tear these up and drop them in the pot while I pour you a glass, okay?" She smiled at the little girl, going to get the milk and pour it into one of Brooklyn's sippy cups. "Do you want syrup?"

Brooklyn nodded and tore at the herbs and dropped them in. "No, just white milk," she replied.

"Okay," she smiled, fitting the lid on and handing it to her as she finished tearing the herbs up. "Do you think we should add any noodles?" she asked, peering into the pot as she stirred it.

"We have letter noodles like the soup in the can," she said. "They're with the bunny Mac and cheese!"

"Letter noodles, hmm?" Rachel mused, opening up the cabinet and pulling out the bag. "Oh! So we do! You want veggie letter noodle soup then? I can make you a chicken breast to add to yours if you want. Or would you like mushrooms like I like?"

"Mushroom," Brooklyn said as she drank out if her straw. "You should make it spicy. Mommy likes spicy foods," she said as she reached behind her and picked up her container of fish crackers and started munching them. "Wants a fishy?"

"Sure," she leaned down and opened her mouth so Brooklyn could pop one in. "Don't spoil your dinner with fishies though," she added, getting out a couple of jalapenos and cremini mushrooms to chop up and add to the soup.

Brooklyn nodded after feeding one to Rachel and munched on more. "Can we have breads or salads too? I'm hungry. lunch was not yummy because I didn't want to wake mommy up."

"Of course we can. Do you want to make some biscuits from scratch while the soup is cooking or crescent rolls from the can?" Rachel asked, getting a baking sheet out and turning the oven on.

"Can you eats the one from the can? I likes those!" Brooklyn smiled.

"Yes," she smiled at her, getting the can out of the fridge. "Pillsbury doesn't use animal products in their crescent rolls so I can have them too. That's why I always have them," she teased. "Do you want to open the can? You have to be careful."

"No, it just explodes on me!" Brooklyn said, "I just want you to do it... I will eat my fishes."

Rachel laughed. "Alright, silly. Do you want to help roll them up? You can put cheese in some of them if you'd like. Yes, real cheese and not my cheese. We'll just put a little bit on top so I know not to eat those, okay?"

"I'm okays," she said, "I thinks that I just want the bread and I can have cheese on the side?"

"I think we can definitely make that happen," Rachel nodded, popping the tube open and dividing out the dough into neat rolls. "It there anything else you'd like with dinner tonight, my little lady?"

Brooklyn thought for a minute. "Soups, bread, cheese..." she bit her lip and looked up, "carrots?"

"Carrots in the soup, sweetie, but," she picked up a carrot that hadn't gotten chopped up and handed it to Brooklyn, "a carrot for my bunny."

She beamed and Put the fish crackers aside and gnawed on the carrot. "Thanks, Momma," she said kicking her legs. "Momma? Do you like being my new momma?"

Rachel looked at her curiously. "Of course I do, sweetie. Why do you ask?" she asked, putting the rolls into the oven and setting the timer on the microwave. "Do you think I don't like being your mom too?"

"Just asking," she said. "My mommy's always been my mommy... You're new and I just wants to make sures. I love you."

"Well, I love you," she smiled, leaning over to kiss her cheek, "and you can be sure that I love being your momma too. I want to be with you and your mommy all the time."

"Kay," she smiled only to start pouting a moment later, "but I'm sad Mommy's sick."

"Me too, sweetie. I want her to get better right away," Rachel admitted with a soft smile. "But we're going to take care of her until she does get better, right?"

"Yes," Brooklyn nodded, "I want her to feel better so she can come to school with me again. I likes having her there in case I needed her at school."

"Well, until she gets better, you just call me, okay?" she reassured her, brushing some hair out of her face. "I have to stay home and take care of your mom while she's sick, or I'd stay at school with you after dropping you off. But if you need anything, you just call me and I'll come right away. Okay?"

Brooklyn nodded. "I have soccer practice tomorrow after school. Can I still play if mom isn't there?"

She nodded. "I'll get Aunt Quinn to check on your mom if she isn't feeling any better and take you myself. I'll even bring the camera and film it so your mom can see when we get home if you'd like. How's that sound?"

"Sounds good." She nodded. "You make sure to keep mommy warm okays?" Brooklyn asked worried, "I gets cold and she makes me very warm when I'm sick."

"Absolutely. I'll take the best care of her, sweetie," Rachel nodded, pulling the oven open and getting the rolls out when the timer went off. "Bread's done. Shall we check on the soup?"

She nodded. "I like soups," she nodded and reached up and grabbed her bowl and then ones for Santana and Rachel and carefully put them on the counter.

"How about we wait until your mom's feeling a little better before trying to make her eat, okay?" Rachel suggested gently. "I bet you don't want to eat when you feel sick are are throwing up like she is."

"She's gross right now, but I still love her," Brooklyn said as she put the bowl back. "Let's eat, then I can go to watch the baby animal show and read before bed."

"Can I watch with you?" Rachel asked, filling the bowls with soup.

"Yes, please." She smiled. "If I'm careful can I watch while I eat my soups?"

"Yes," Rachel nodded, "but only if you let me carry the soup out on the tray. I don't want you getting burnt. But you can carry the plate of rolls if you'd like."

"Okay, thank you, Rachie," she said as she grabbed her drink and the plate from Rachel and scampered out to the living room.

Rachel shook her head with a fond smile and carefully carried out the tray of soup as Brooklyn found her program on the Animal Planet channel.

* * *

A few days later Santana was on the mend with the help if antibiotics and sleep. Rachel and Brooklyn had been taking care of her through the week and Brooklyn had been taken to school by Rachel which allowed Santana time to get showered and feeling close to normal again. She laid in their bed and read her book with her glasses perched over her eyes and her blankets pushed down to her hips.

Rachel came home a bit later from dropping Brooklyn off and paused where she'd come in to check on Santana, just watching her lover with a fond smile. She was tired - keeping up with Brooklyn on her own was a bit exhausting - but she doubted that she'd ever been happier. Now seeing Santana finally looking like she was feeling better, she felt something else stirring in her.

"Hey there, beautiful," she murmured softly, coming into the room to sit beside Santana on the bed. "Finally feeling better?"

"Yeah," she said as she closed her book. "You look tired," Santana said her voice slightly deeper than normal from all the coughing she'd been doing. "Experiencing the workout that is Brooklyn?"

Rachel laughed softly. "Yes, but I love it. She's been amazing. Most of this," she gestured at her tired looking face, "is from worrying about you. I'm glad you're feeling better."

"I swore that they got easier when they got big enough to be real people," Santana said. "I'm sorry I've been so gross. I hope that it passes you by and you don't get sick."

"Don't apologize for being ill, Santana. That's silly." She smiled at her reassuringly, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "And if I do get sick, it'll be worth it to have gotten to take care of my family."

"Then I'll take care of you and we can both pray that Brooklyn doesn't get sick because she's a diva when she's not feeling well, and I'll get bitchy because I worry about her," Santana explained and sighed. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"Of course," Rachel pulled her hand to her lips and kissed it gently. "I think I've been happiest the last few days than I have in a long time, Santana. I like taking care of you and Brooklyn. Truly I do. The only thing I think I've _missed..._ " She trailed off with a shyly teasing smirk. "Well, I bet you can guess."

"What my vomiting and coughing up my guts isn't a turn on for you?" Santana teased as she ran her thumb against Rachel's lip.

"No, I'm afraid that's never really been a turn on of mine." She laughed softly, kissing her thumb. "I've missed being able to touch you," she admitted with a quiet smile. "Being able to see you climax and knowing I was responsible for it... _that_ is a turn on."

For the first time in a week a non-fevered shiver ran through Santana's body. "Rach," she whimpered, "you should have let me watch you, like that Skype call that one time."

"With Brooklyn nearby?" she asked softly, a hand drifting over to draw light patterns on Santana's skin where her shirt had rode up and exposed her stomach. "Or just with you so sick you wouldn't be able to do anything about it? Neither of those sound very appealing, Santana."

"True," she nodded, "plus having no energy to help is no fun."

"Mmm," Rachel murmured, letting her hand slide over Santana's warm skin. "And I still wouldn't get what I wanted most out of it," she pointed out with a smirk, "which is pleasuring you until you finally come."

"Is that what you want?" Santana replied. "Even though I'm still not a hundred percent better?"

She smiled and shrugged, shaking her head. "Santana, I always want that. But I can wait," her hand stilled on her skin, "until you're at one hundred percent again if that's what you want."

Santana thought about it for a minute. "No, I want too. I just don't want to start coughing during... or, like, get tired," she admitted, embarrassed.

"If you start coughing, we'll stop," Rachel murmured, letting her hand continue it's movements. "I'm in no rush, Santana. And if you get tired, just lie back," she smiled shyly, "and let me take care of you."

"I can do that," she whispered as she watched Rachel's hand explore her stomach.

"I don't need anything more than to take care of you right now," she whispered, leaning in to kiss Santana. The kiss was gentle and undemanding, but somehow still let Santana know how much Rachel cared for her. "You give me so much, Santana, that it's only fair that sometimes I get to give back to you."

Santana leaned into the kiss. "Please."

"Please keep kissing you?" she asked teasingly, fingers just drifting under the hem of Santana's top. "Or please make love to you?"

"Both," Santana said breathlessly.

"I think I can do that," Rachel whispered, leaning in to kiss her again, easing her back down onto the bed and sliding to rest more on top of her.

Her lips moved against Santana's, teasing and coaxing a response from her before her tongue slipped past her lips to brush against the crease of Santana's. The tips of her fingers just lightly brushed the lower swell of her lover's breasts before sliding down to tease the waistband of her loose-fitting shorts and sweeping back up. Santana's back arched and she whimpered into the gentle kiss and touch.

Rachel smiled into the kiss, pulling back just enough to speak. "I'm going to take care of you this time," she whispered, reaching up to undo the buttons on Santana's shirt one by one. "You don't have to do a thing," she breathed, moving to trail soft kisses and gentle nips down the column of her lover's neck as her hands finished with the shirt and slid inside to caress soft skin.

Santana nodded and shuddered slightly. "Th-thank you... for loving me."

"Thank you for letting me," she whispered as her hands smoothed over Santana's sides, pushing her shirt aside to reveal her bare chest. "For letting me know what it's like to have a family," she breathed as she kissed down her chest to swirl her tongue around a nipple.

A whimper escaped Santana's mouth. "God," she gasped, her lips parting to let her tongue wet dry skin. "God, Rachel."

Rachel smiled around the nipple in her mouth. Her teeth scraped gently over the stiff peak as she pulled away. "I love being able to be with you like this," she flicked her tongue over the nipple before moving to the neglected one, "to be able to be the one to make you come undone." She ran her tongue over the peak in a broad stroke and let her breath play over it as she spoke, "I love it almost as much as I love being able to sleep beside you at night or watch a movie with our family."

"Different ways I hope," she gasped, "I doubt movies could make me feel like this."

She laughed, her breath bursting over the damp nipple. "Yes, very different. But they both make me very," she caught it between her lips, sucking firmly and pulling away until it slipped from her lips with a soft pop, " _happy_."

The healing woman arched. "Please touch me, don't tease."

"I'm not trying to tease, Santana," Rachel reassured, kissing further down as her hands slid into the waistband of her shorts and started pushing them down. "I just want to take the time to properly appreciate you. It's not very often," she paused to nip at Santana's navel, "that I get to be the giver in this sort of situation after all."

"I like to give to you..." Santana whimpered and slid her hand through Rachel's hair.

"I know you do," she agreed, pushing the last of Santana's clothes off her, "and you are exceptionally good at it, but I like to return the favor now and then." Her eyes fell closed as she breathed in the heady aroma of Santana's arousal. Leaning down, she brushed a kiss against the top of her mound. "So beautiful," she whispered, gently tracing the crease of her lover's hips with her tongue.

"Rachel..." Santana whined as she got impatient with waiting for her lover to caress her folds.

She laughed softly, fingers teasing at Santana's hips. "I'm sorry," she murmured, not sounding sorry at all, "I just really enjoy exploring you." Having said that, she slid her tongue along Santana's lower lips. "May I make love to you like this?" she asked softly with a low groan at the taste of Santana's arousal. "With my mouth? My tongue?" she breathed before sliding her tongue between her wet folds and stroking up from her entrance to tease her clit.

"God, yes." Her head fell back and she arched up. "Yes, like that."

Rachel smiled and let one of her hands slide over Santana's hips and stomach as she used the other to part her folds and give her better access. "I love doing this to you," she whispered, taking her clit between her lips and sucking gently. She flicked it with the tip of her tongue as her free hand slid up to cup and gently squeeze one breast.

Soft whimpers and groans of approval were all that could be heard. Santana's panting went in time with the soft sucking sounds from Rachel's mouth. She clutched her hands into the sheets as she arched up and writhed with pleasure.

Rachel gave a final suck before letting the sensitive bundle slide from her lips as she moved further down. "Is this okay?" she whispered before swirling her tongue just inside Santana's opening.

She hesitated for a minute before nodding. "Yeah," she whispered and arched her back.

She smiled, leaning up just enough to look at Santana for a moment. "I love you," she whispered. "More than anything." Having said what she wanted to, she leaned back down and slid her tongue into Santana's tight channel, her lips pressed to her body as she probed her walls.

"Fuck," Santana mumbled her legs twitching as she rocked up against Rachel's lips.

Rachel did her best to hold her in place with her hand pressing down on Santana's lower stomach as she worked her tongue inside of her. With her free hand, she slid her thumb between her folds and gently dragged it over her clit.

Santana whined and arched as her body shook. "C-close."

She breathed as deeply as she could through her nose as she lapped at Santana's inner walls. The pace she'd set with her thumb on her lover's clit increased as she rolled her tongue and groaned at the taste of the fluids coating her tongue with each stroke. She didn't respond to Santana with words - she couldn't with her face buried between her legs - but she did her best to keep going, coaxing the climax from Santana's body.

She arched up with a soft gasp, her core clenching around Rachel's tongue and pulling her deeper. Rachel's hands moved her hips, doing her best to control her movements as she struggled to keep up with the force of Santana's climax. She breathed awkwardly, lapping at the tense muscles clenching at her as she tried to ease her lover down.

After several aftershocks Santana slumped down onto the mattress. "Holy crap," she panted before coughing slightly.

Rachel pulled away, resting her cheek against Santana's thigh and licking her lips with a shy smile. "Was that alright?" she asked softly, one hand gently stroking along the crease of the woman's hip.

"Very," she said hoarsely. "Come up to hold me please?" she whispered through her pants.

Rachel wiped her lower jaw off on the sheet and crawled up to pull Santana into her arms. "I'm glad I could do that for you," she whispered with a shy smile, pressing her lips to Santana's hair.

"I love you," Santana whispered as she looked down nervously.

"You do?" She looked startled to hear those words from Santana, but in a very good way. "Really?" she asked with a hesitantly happy smile. "You love me?"

"Yeah," Santana whispered. "Is... Is that okay?" she asked softly, not sure if she should have said it or not. She never had a good track record with those three words and she never heard it from her family growing up so it was hard to find the words and express them even when she meant them as much as she did right then.

"Yes," Rachel breathed, hugging her tight with one of her biggest and brightest grins, eyes clenched shut against the emotions bubbling up inside of her. "It's so very okay that I don't believe I have a word in this language to express how very _extremely_ okay it is." She laughed, leaning down to kiss Santana. "Do you have any idea how much I've hoped and prayed to hear you say that? To know you _meant_ it?"

"I'm sorry I don't say it... It's a hard thing for me to feel," she admitted. "But I do... I love you."

"You don't have to say it," she whispered, cuddling close with a smile. "I've known you care for me for a while now from how you treat me and act and talk around and about me. I just," the giddy little smile snuck back on her face again as she hugged Santana, "didn't realize just how _much_ you cared until I heard that. I feel so happy I could burst right now, Santana."

Santana coughed slightly and held her close. "I'm glad you know. You are very special... To me and Brooke."

"Both of you are very special to me too," Rachel admitted softly. "Would it be entirely crass of me to admit I've had something of a crush on you since forever ago? It was... almost appallingly easy to fall in love with you once I let myself believe I had a chance." Hearing the cough, she spread her hand on Santana's bare chest. "Do you need something for your throat? I can get you a lozenge or perhaps some hot tea with honey and lemon?"

"In a bit," she said pulling Rachel closer. "Just wanna be here with you."

"I want to be with you forever," she admitted shyly. "Even when I'm in LA or some other godforsaken distance from you," her hand rested gently on tanned skin over Santana's heart, "I just want to be right here. Is... is that okay?"

"You are there," Santana stated, watching her. "You are."

"Then that's all I need," she whispered, resting her hand on Santana's chest. "I can live with anything the world can throw at me as long as I can be in your heart. Am I a complete sap now?" she asked with a slightly rueful smirk.

"Kinda," Santana smirked, "but I like it."

"You like me being a complete sap?" Rachel chuckled, with a raised brow. "Or maybe you just like me being a complete sap about _you_ ," she teased.

"Me and Brooklyn," Santana said. "I totally expect you at every play or silly kid thing with video camera in hand cheering her on."

"Every one I can get free from my obligations for," Rachel reminded her. "But I do believe I've already started that with her soccer practice this week, don't you?"

"She was so happy... Thank you so much." Santana smiled and rested her head on Rachel's chest.

She chuckled softly, wrapping her arms around her. "Aren't I supposed to go to her events now? It's part of the privilege of being her other mom, right?"

"Very true." Santana smiled. "I think I like co-parenting - as scary as it is for me."

"Hey, it's completely terrifying for me as well," Rachel teased. "You actually have some idea of what you're doing. I'm half convinced I'm going to do something horrid and mess everything up. The Good Lord only knows how stressed and frantic I'd get if I were trying to help raise an infant. Especially with you sitting there all cool and _experienced_ in the background."

"I was a mess when she was smaller," Santana admitted. "I cried as much as she did. I'm not experienced. I just learned before you did."

"So," she pointed out, leaning back against the pillows and cuddling her, "that means you'll be experienced if we ever tried, you know," she shrugged with a shy smile, "having kids together some day."

"I'll still be a crying shit show like I was with her," Santana reassured her with a smile before lifting her head to look at Rachel again. "You... you think you'd want to... You know... Have them? Or let me do it?"

"Maybe," she shrugged. "I haven't really thought about _me_ having them... though definitely not for a few years. I still have a name to make for myself before I can take time off to devote to having a child after all."

"I'd be okay having them," she said softly. "I didn't hate being pregnant."

"I think we'd still have to wait a few years," Rachel teased. "I don't think I'd be able to work because of how much I'd want to be with you through it. It'd be nearly as bad as trying to have them myself."

She nodded. "If that's what you want." She rested her head back down. "Brooklyn wants siblings, and I know they'll never be really biologically hers but... I want her to have that."

"Nonsense," she snorted. "If you have another child, they'd be half hers and what's biology have to do with having siblings or family?" She shrugged, pointing at herself. "Look at me. Only one of my dads is biologically my dad, but they're both still really my dads and no one will ever convince me otherwise."

"I know," she said, "but sometimes I wonder what would happen if _he_ knew about her."

"Who? Mike?" Rachel thought about it, then shrugged. "Legally, I doubt there's much that would happen as I doubt you acknowledged him on her birth certificate and I'm fairly certain you haven't insisted on child support or anything like that. And... if for some reason he tried to take her... well, then I'd help fight him."

"I just don't want him to ever know about her... I rather her think I was a slut when she's older and I don't know who her dad is than tell her that she was a drunken accident with someone in a committed relationship after I got dumped."

"Your daughter is never going to think you're a slut, Santana," Rachel chided. "What happened was right after Quinn's accident right? You were an emotional wreck just like everyone else. Including Mike. When she's older, we can explain things as they were - you were looking for comfort because you thought you were losing one of your best friends, both of you."

She scoffed. "He was drunk... He thought I was Tina," she looked down ashamed, "and I just wanted to hurt Brittany."

"Instead you got hurt," she murmured, rubbing Santana's back. "I wish I'd been a better friend back then," she whispered, "maybe... maybe if I'd been there, it wouldn't have happened with him. But then we wouldn't have Brooklyn so... I'm decidedly torn on the subject I'm afraid."

"I'd never trade her... Even with losing everything and losing my dreams and the future I'd planned. I got her. She's my future and my everything."

"Hey, you didn't lose everything. It just... got delayed. I'm here now and I'm sure those dreams can still come true if you want them too, Santana." She smiled at her. "You can still go to college. Even if you just do it online. I'll help you. Whatever you want to do."

"I just wanna focus in my kid," she said before she coughed. "I should get dressed."

"You can focus on Brooklyn while taking classes online," Rachel pointed out, "and way to spoil my cuddles!" She kissed Santana softly. "I'm going to run you a bath then I'll clean up in here and we can take a nap before Brooklyn needs to be picked up, okay?"

"I'm already spread thin with her and work... I'm okay without a degree, Rachel," she said as she sat up and shivered in the cool air of the room.

"If you insist," Rachel shrugged. "But you are talented and I certainly hope you'll work on your art and writing. It's good."

"I do that." She smiled, shaking her head. "I don't need a degree telling me I can doodle though." She got up and wrapped the sheet around herself.

"You also," she smirked, coming out of the bathroom after running the bath, "don't need to cover up that beautiful body when you have me here to keep you warm." She stepped over and hugged her, resting her head on her shoulder. "I just want to do whatever I can to give you back anything you think you lost by having our beautiful little girl, Santana."

"You can't give me my parents back, Rachel," Santana whispered, "but I don't think I missed out on anything. I doubt I would have finished college if I went anyway." She shrugged and let the sheet fall and headed into the bathroom.

"Okay, I give up on the college though I'll leave the offer of supporting you if you later decide you want to go on the table." She shrugged, leaning against the bathroom door and watching Santana get in the tub. "But as for parents... maybe you'd like mine? Not the same as having yours back, but my dads always loved you, Santana, even if we did stop hanging out in high school. I think Daddy had something of a musical crush on you after your performance of _Valerie_ to be perfectly honest."

Santana chuckled. "Why? I was a bitch to you? The only thing I ever did right by you was tell you not to fuck Finn or marry him." She relaxed into the water. "Why would your dads like me?"

"You mean besides the fact you tried to convince me not to be with Finn?" Rachel raised a teasing brow. "Maybe because I never told them you were a bitch to me? Maybe because we were friends in grade school? Maybe because I told them how you refused to give Sue our set list when she asked, or how you stood up against David's bullying when you didn't have to? Or maybe just because they enjoyed watching you perform? Take your pick, Santana."

Santana stuck her tongue out at her. "Maybe I didn't deserve all that. Do they like Quinn?" she asked curiously knowing the blonde did more to hurt Rachel than anyone.

She shrugged. "I think they like her more now than when we were dating, to be honest. Neither of us were happy then. It was," she winced, "messy. But the worst of it went away when we stopped trying to be more than friends. Intimate friends to be certain, but still just friends. Trying to be lovers skewed our dynamic very badly in an unhealthy fashion."

She nodded and laid back after coughing. "I don't think that I would have liked you two together. I'd be too jealous," she said, alluding to her attraction to Rachel prior to their relationship.

Rachel shrugged and smiled lopsidedly, not realizing that the jealousy wouldn't have been directed at her for being involved with the more traditional beauty of Quinn. "I'm not surprised. Honestly, I thought you'd have gone for Quinn before me. You two did have that," she made a vague gesture with her hand, "tension in high school after all."

"What?" Santana looked up. "Jealous of her getting to be with you. I could never date Quinn, that would just not work."

She blinked, puzzled. "I'm sorry, Santana. That doesn't make any sense to me. Why wouldn't it work? I mean, the two of you had fairly obvious chemistry..."

"Because she and I would actually kill each other dead," Santana said simply. "You two had more chemistry than us and you didn't work out."

"I don't understand why you'd have been jealous then," Rachel trailed off in confusion, not realizing that Santana had been attracted to her before they'd started things.

"Because I was attracted to you when I started working for you," she said as she brought her knees up to her chest. "Hell... I kinda liked you in high school too but I was too chickenshit and wrapped up in Brittany to say anything."

"Really?" she asked with a shy smile. "I didn't know that. That's," she blushed, "that's quite flattering actually."

"You grew up well," Santana smiled. "Now. You should go and do whatever it was you were gonna do while I bathe and then we can sleep."

"Sounds like a plan," Rachel smirked, pushing off the door and turning to head back into the bathroom. "I'll just change the sheets and bring a change of clothes in for you when I'm done, okay?"

"You're amazing." Santana said as she slid down into the water.

"So are you," she murmured, heading out to clean up.

**The End**

**A/N: Well, that's it guys. We do have ideas for a sequel that we're batting around, but we don't have anything in the works just yet. Hope you all enjoyed this little trip and can wait a bit until we get our next piece ready to release for all of you. Thanks for reading! :)**


End file.
